Sportradar’s stern warning about match-fixing | Sports integrity

Sportradar Integrity Services, the anti-corruption arm of the newly listed sports data specialist, sees a serious problem emerging in the betting industry. Over the past 18 months, its betting monitoring system, the Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) has detected suspicious activity in 12 sports, in 70 countries around the world.

This equates to more than 1,100 suspicious matches since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in April last year, of which 655 were detected in the first nine months of 2021. Football, according to Sportradar, is facing the highest risk of manipulation, with that of 2021. figure covering more than 500 matches in sport, of which more than 40% come from third level competitions and below, up to the youth level.

Sportradar Integrity Services chief executive Andreas Krannich said he would “get his hands on fire” and said the 655s have been corrected for betting purposes. Since the division’s launch in 2004, he adds, it has never had a “false positive”. In fact, he’s more worried that the system won’t detect the manipulation than it suggests that something is wrong in a game.

“This number is really where we are 110% sure that they are being manipulated for betting purposes,” Krannich said.

A global threat

This, he argues, is a consequence of Covid-19. “[This] Match-fixing cancer is spreading and affecting sports that in the past were never or rarely the subject of match-fixing attention.

“There was always room for improvement, but unfortunately not the same number of follow-ups by law enforcement, police, sports organizations, so not all of them are monitored or reviewed. investigation, ”he explains. “At least we can say that if the sports governing body, the state authority, the police take action, they can succeed in fighting it.”

Krannich, who has worked for Sportradar since 2008, has a solid pedigree in the area of ​​integrity. Before joining the supplier, he worked for the German Football Association (DFB) and the Bundesliga, the country’s highest football competition. During this time, he was tasked with establishing and managing his integrity program, following one of the most high-profile examples of football-related corruption, the Hoyzer affair. This saw referee Robert Hoyzer admitting to rigging matches in second tier 2. Bundesliga, DFB Pokal cup competition and third tier Regionalliga.

At the helm of Sportradar Integrity Services, Krannich and his team have supported more than 400 disciplinary sanctions, with the UFDS involved in six decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and supporting more than 36 criminal convictions.

In particular, he points to football as being at risk, highlighting Russian and Brazilian football in the lower leagues, as well as the growing evidence of manipulation in esports. “But other sports are affected,” he continues. “We had a peak of almost 20 games handled in basketball in Thailand, so what we are witnessing is like boiling water – bubbles appear all of a sudden, in a jurisdiction where you don’t have never had a problem before. “

The changing face of match-fixing

Last year, the world changed online when people were confined to their homes. Match-fixing was no different. Krannich says recruiting athletes, referees and teams was a tough business, but was made easier by digital channels.

“If you see it from a development perspective, one positive development that comes from Covid is that we’ve learned to communicate professionally digitally,” he explains. “It’s also an advantage for the match-setters.

“Due to the fact that people get used to communicating through digital channels, coupled with the negative business impact for sport – which creates an El Dorado for match-setters – players, referees, even clubs are vulnerable. because they don’t have the financial foundation they had before. It is much easier for criminals to approach them.

Organized criminal groups can even “turn athletes, referees – even full teams on and off”.

Financial pressures on sports such as soccer, which have seen top clubs go into debt, lose key players and even file for administration, are also creating opportunities.

“We have had so-called investors who approached a club in financial difficulty,” says Krannich. “They approach the club saying ‘we’re going to take a stake, ease the financial pressure, bring in a sales manager, a team manager and a few players.’

“Not just in football, we’ve seen this in basketball as well. It’s a trend that is getting stronger and stronger.

This financial pressure affects current integrity structures, with clubs and leagues cutting budgets, weakening the safety net. While some have maintained their integrity and their doping controls, others have reduced.

This prompted Sportradar to offer the UFDS free to sports federations, leagues or state authorities. Krannich is keen to stress that there is no “hidden agenda” in this decision.

“It’s really a free service,” he says. “Think of it as a free burglar alarm for your home – for all doors, windows, basement, break-ins and fires. “

He hopes the warning system will never sound the alarm, because that at least means the sport in question is not affected. But if so, the organization will at least be aware of a problem and receive advice on how to follow up. This can be done through an investigation by Sportradar, or directly with the police and law enforcement.

“This is not a commercial exercise for us. Seeing this financial pressure on sport, we just want to prevent match-fixing cases from being overlooked because of these difficulties. “

“The ban never works”

By ensuring that integrity monitoring solutions are available free of charge, the goal is also to combat efforts in certain markets to ban betting on lower leagues. Krannich is blunt: “Prohibition never works.

“We live in a digital environment with the next betting offer just two clicks away,” he says. “If you try to enforce the ban, these activities are not just clandestine. The serious consequences are that there is a complete lack of enforcement and oversight to maintain any sort of integrity. Black markets are created.

He says this is not an ethical debate and more a logical step – if something cannot be banned, it must be offered in a well-regulated and controlled manner. He points to his native Germany, where betting in certain live markets, such as corners and fouls, is prohibited on the grounds that they are easy to manipulate.

“In theory, yes. But if you try to understand the market, but if a match is manipulated, there are three victims. The fan, who is duped, the sport which loses credibility, and the bookmaker, who loses money.

“The bookmaker has an inherent interest in not being trapped by match-setters,” Krannich continues. “They are very good at risk management. So if you are trying to manipulate a game you will always be trying to maximize your income. There are always five, six people involved, so you have to have a big margin.

“Would you bet on corners, where you can bet £ 50, or would you go for full-time bets, where you can bet thousands?

This, he points out, was supported by research carried out in partnership with the Asser Institute in the Netherlands which analyzed the match-fixing cases identified by Sportradar. The majority of bets were 1 × 2, handicaps and totals. “Organized crime gets its money from these three markets. “

Bets on corners, cards and fouls, he says, are simply “marketing bets.” The police even qualify the manipulation of these markets as “pick-pocketing” compared to other forms of manipulation.

“The bottom line is that even if in theory from an ethical point of view a ban could be discussed, if it is not effective,” he adds. “You only generate imperfect markets, wrong prices, no consumer protection and mafia structures.”

And if a ban is put in place, the tricksters must place their bets overseas. Police who wish to investigate suspicious activity then cannot speak to locally regulated bookmakers, who are willing (“and required by law,” Krannich adds) to cooperate.

“You are preventing the live match from investigating harder, because the regulated bookmakers will not be able to support you,” he said. “A ban will not work. “

Rather than ineffective bans, it is careful and consistent oversight that will protect the sport from corruption. Repairmen are not going anywhere.

“It’s a global threat,” says Krannich. “I deliberately use the metaphor of cancer; it is spreading all over the world.