{"id":164661,"date":"2021-02-16T15:06:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T23:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=164661"},"modified":"2021-02-17T03:11:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T11:11:20","slug":"match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Match-Fixing \u2018Diversifying\u2019, Spreading in COVID-19 Era: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The financial pressures of the coronavirus pandemic are leaving many sports vulnerable to match-fixing<\/a>, according to a report by Sportradar.<\/p>\n

\"Match-Fixing
Sportradar\u2019s Andreas Krannich lamented the \u201cmassive spread of the cancer of match-fixing.\u201d (Image: ABC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Switzerland-based sports data provider said that 2020 had seen a steep rise in suspicious betting patterns in friendly soccer matches, as well as fringe sports like table tennis, esports, and volleyball.<\/p>\n

Sportradar is the official data provider to the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and others. It provides integrity services to world soccer governing body FIFA and works closely with 80 other sporting federations around the world. Last year, it analyzed 600,000 matches across 26 sports.<\/p>\n

The picture was concerning. Andreas Krannich, the managing director of Sportradar\u2019s Integrity Services, said that match- fixers are \u201cdiversifying,\u201d and there has been a \u201cmassive spread in the cancer of match-fixing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports Suffering<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cIn the past, match-fixers have targeted those sports and leagues where the profit and turnover are biggest, such as football [soccer], tennis, and basketball. But now they have diversified,\u201d Krannich said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the fixers quickly understood is that a lot of sports are now suffering financially as a consequence of Covid-19. And where there is far less money, players, referees, coaches, presidents are increasingly vulnerable.”<\/p>\n

\n

The number of highly suspicious games flagged by Sportradar\u2019s systems last year, 526, was actually down on 2019\u2019s 661. But when you consider that most sports were canceled in 2020, the figure represents a dramatic increase, with new sports, new leagues, and few federations all targeted. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to the report, soccer teams based in Russia, Brazil, Vietnam, Czech Republic, and Armenia frequently featured in suspicious friendly matches. The most recent incident occurred in the past two weeks during a friendly in Europe, where the referee is suspected of manipulating the match to ensure at least two goals were scored in the first half.<\/p>\n

Match-Fixing Informants\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In March 2020, as elite global sports were canceled because of the pandemic, gambler focus turned to the few sports that were still running. These included table tennis in Russia and the Ukraine<\/a>. In 2019, just one table tennis match was flagged as suspicious by Sportradar. But there were 20 in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have extremely good networks in bookmaking around the world, as well as informants from law enforcement, the police, and the match-fixing world,\u201d Krannich said. \u201cAnd what they were telling us was that match-fixers were running out of money and they were thinking: \u2018OK, how can we compensate? How can we make profit out of this situation?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAnd what they have done \u2026 they\u2019ve diversified,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have seen sports that were previously seen as an add-on become more targeted by fixers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The financial pressures of the coronavirus pandemic are leaving many sports vulnerable to match-fixing, according to a report by Sportradar. The Switzerland-based sports data provider said that 2020 had seen a steep rise in suspicious betting patterns in friendly soccer matches, as well as fringe sports like table tennis, esports, and volleyball. Sportradar is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":164663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMatch Fixing \u2018Diversifying\u2019, Spreading in COVID-19 Era: Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sportradar says match-fixing has grown as coronavirus pandemic puts financial pressure on sports and fixers themselves.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Match Fixing \u2018Diversifying\u2019, Spreading in COVID-19 Era: Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sportradar says match-fixing has grown as coronavirus pandemic puts financial pressure on sports and fixers themselves.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-16T23:06:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-17T11:11:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/andreas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1111\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/\",\"name\":\"Match Fixing \u2018Diversifying\u2019, Spreading in COVID-19 Era: Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/andreas.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T23:06:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-17T11:11:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Sportradar says match-fixing has grown as coronavirus pandemic puts financial pressure on sports and fixers themselves.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/match-fixing-diversifying-spreading-in-covid-19-era-report\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/andreas.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/andreas.jpg\",\"width\":1111,\"height\":678,\"caption\":\"Sportradar\u2019s Andreas Krannich lamented the \u201cmassive spread of the cancer of match-fixing\u201d this week. 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