The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has published its Match-fixing Trend Analysis for 2024.

In 2024, there were 13 reports from license holders, compared to 6 reports in 2023. The reports concern striking betting patterns, risky matches and striking changes in odds. Following the investigation into these signals, the KSA has issued 4 warnings and a guideline with guidance for the market will follow shortly.

In the Trend Analysis Match Fixing 2024, the KSA provides an overview of the reports it received in the period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. It concerns 13 reports of possible match fixing, originating from 8 different license holders. Compared to the trend analysis for the year 2023, the number of reports has more than doubled. Possible explanations are efforts by the KSA to create more awareness of the reporting obligation among licensed providers or a global increase in reports of match fixing. A number of the signals were reason for investigation. Based on this, the KSA issued 4 warnings.

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The KSA will make even more efforts to point out to licensed providers their legal obligation to inform the KSA without delay of indications that point to an increased risk of manipulation of an involved match. Guidance for the market in the form of a guideline will follow shortly. In addition, the KSA will continue to monitor the signals.

One of the goals of the Gambling Act is to combat gambling-related match-fixing at licensed providers of sports betting. The KSA has no legal task in detecting match-fixing, but examines whether licensed providers do enough to prevent match-fixing.

For this purpose, the Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) was established within the KSA, a reporting point for signals of possible match-fixing in gambling.

The Czech Financial Administration has successfully prevented tax evasion in the gambling sector amounting to CZK 540m.

Through a specialized financial department, authorities identified discrepancies in financial flows within casinos and gambling operators for the years 2021 and 2022. The findings were made public in a press release.

The tax evasion was uncovered through a detailed analysis of gaming data, which revealed unusual player behaviour and suspicious financial transactions. During an inspection of a gambling operator, the authorities detected irregularities that led to an additional tax assessment of CZK 340m. The audit further uncovered errors in the reporting of fees and commissions, resulting in an extra tax obligation of CZK 200m.

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“Gambling is a highly regulated sector with significant tax revenues, which is why it is crucial for us to systematically minimize opportunities for illegal practices. This achievement demonstrates that our efforts have a tangible impact on market fairness and tax collection,” Otakar Sladkovský, Director of the Specialized Tax Office, said.

Although gambling tax is a relatively smaller contributor to the state’s overall tax revenues, it remains an important source of income. Last year, gambling taxes generated CZK 20.6 billion, reflecting a 12.5% increase compared to the previous year. Of this amount, CZK 14.2 billion was allocated to the state budget, while the remaining funds were distributed among municipal budgets. In total, tax revenues for the previous year, excluding compulsory insurance premiums, amounted to CZK 1.42 trillion.