64 betting integrity alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2021

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 64 cases of suspicious betting to the relevant authorities during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. The Q1 total is broadly similar to the 68 cases reported in Q4 2020 and the 61 alerts reported in Q1 2020. Tennis (18), eSports (17) and football (12) made up nearly 75% of all alerts reported during the quarter, with the remainder covering table tennis (7), basketball (5), volleyball (4) and horse racing (1). From a geographical perspective, Europe and Asia accounted for two-thirds (66%) of alerts.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “After a difficult 2020, many operators appear to be close to normality in terms of their pre-pandemic market offering. This is reflected in the alert numbers and geographical spread for Q1, with a refocus on those sports that have traditionally and numerically dominated the betting offer globally, namely tennis and football. The association and its members continue to work closely with those sports, and indeed all sports that wish to engage with us, to identify potential corruption and to seek robust sanctions to punish and deter such illicit activity.”

Other key data for Q1 2021:

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• 7 – alerts in Q1 covered seven different sports
• 16 – a quarter of all alerts came from Russia (10) and Bulgaria (6)
• 18 – alerts on tennis
• 20 – different countries where alerts were reported

The International Betting Integrity Association is the leading global voice on integrity for the licensed betting industry. It is run by operators for operators, protecting its members from corruption through collective action. Its monitoring and alert platform is a highly effective anti-corruption tool that detects and reports suspicious activity on its members’ betting markets. The association has longstanding information sharing partnerships with leading sports and gambling regulators to utilise its data and prosecute corruption. It represents the sector at high-level policy discussion forums such as the IOC, UN, Council of Europe and European Commission.