The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has declared an increase in annual suspicious betting alerts in 2022 due to the widening of its monitoring network following membership growth.
Publishing its annual report, the IBIA added that the strong sporting or criminal sanctions last year following these alerts “confirms the value of collaborating through IBIA’s network in the fight against match-fixing.”
In total, the monitoring body reported 268 cases in 2022 (Q1: 48, Q2: 80, Q3: 90, Q4: 50), a 14% increase year-over-year (2021: 236), but consistent with the 230 average annual alerts between 2019 and 2021. The alerts came from 61 countries spanning 14 different sports.
Per region, Europe saw the highest amount of alerts reported with close to 50% of the annual total at 126, followed by Asia (51), Africa (25), North America (22), South America (19), and Oceania (one).
In terms of sport, tennis had the highest annual reportings at 102, followed by soccer (67), table tennis (30), esports (24), horse racing (17), volleyball (10), basketball (five), snooker (five), pool (three), as well as handball, greyhounds, badminton, squash, and MMA (one each).
Throughout the year, sporting and criminal sanctions were given to 15 teams, officials, or players following a suspicious activity report by the IBIA, with data from the association and its members contributing to significant sanctions in several of these cases.
“The protective shield provided by IBIA is a vital tool in identifying and sanctioning attempted corruption on regulated betting markets,” noted Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA.
“That has been underlined by welcome successful prosecutions during 2022 based on IBIA data, and we expect further corroboration of the association’s important positive impact and collaborative approach to be evident throughout 2023.”
Breaking down North America’s 22 alerts for the year (2021: 10 alerts), 20 of those reports came from the US, with 14 in relation to a linked issue on horse racing.
In other sports, six alerts were linked to tennis (US: five, Dominican Republic: one), one alert was registered in basketball (Panama), and one alert was from MMA (US).
Looking at South America’s 19 alerts for 2022 (2021: 17 alerts), nine alerts came from soccer (Brazil: three, Argentina: two, Chile: two, Peru: two).
Elsewhere, seven alerts were reported in tennis (Chile: five, Brazil: one, Peru: one), while volleyball (Brazil), basketball (Brazil), and table tennis (Brazil) all registered one alert each.
Over 45 companies and 125 sports betting brands are part of the IBIA’s membership network. Some of the association’s most recent additions include Fanatics, Simplebet, and betJACK.
The IBIA stated that it has been focusing much of its attention on the expanding North American market, noting it is the largest integrity monitoring body in Ontario and it will be announcing several new members from across the US soon.
“The addition of 16 new members in 2022 has undoubtedly strengthened our monitoring and alert network and our ambition is to see all responsible regulated sports betting operators collaborating through IBIA,” added Ali.
“Proactive and collaborative action by our sector is an essential component in the fight against match-fixing, and to enhancing the overall reputation of the sector in general.”
