Tag: Sports integrity

Match-fixing or mass hysteria in Brazil?

A match-fixing storm has recently engulfed football in Brazil with allegations of manipulation and lies providing a dramatic side plot to the upcoming launch of the country’s legal sports betting market. But is the problem actually as bad as feared?
If you ask people to name five things Brazil is most famous for, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t mention football. The bright yellow shirts of the national football team are perhaps the most iconic around, with legendary players such as Pele and Ronaldo leading the Seleção to win five World Cups, the most of any country.

And yet, such a historic footballing nation has seen its most treasured sport thrown into disarray of late.

O jogo bonito is a religion in Brazil, but is there a dark side?
The row erupted when American businessman John Textor, owner of Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, made allegations of match-fixing against São Paulo players. Textor claimed he had evidence they were bribed in a game against Palmeiras in ..

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Weekend Report: Kayshon Boutte’s “dumb decision” and Betway partner Man City

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB covers the news you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week we’ve got news of Betway partnering with Premier League champions Manchester City, a bill to restrict online gambling advertising in New York and more.
NFL’s Kayshon Boutte glad to be back
New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte spoke of his delight at being back to playing football after charges against him for gambling were dropped earlier this month.

Boutte was arrested in January over accusations he had placed over 8,900 bets while under the legal gambling age of 21 in his native Louisiana. However, the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division dropped those charges in July.

Speaking to reporters after the fourth day of Patriots’ training camp, Boutte labelled his actions as a “dumb decision”. He also said he was glad to be focusing on football again, admitting he needs to “stay away” from gambling.

Betway becomes global betting partner of ..

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Weekend Report: Labour win’s impact on gambling, FanDuel thriving in NY

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB updates you with the stories you may have missed over the last few days.

New Labour government brings gambling uncertainty

Thursday’s (4 July) UK general election brought with it a significant shift in power as Labour claimed a huge majority. This ended a 14-year reign by the Conservatives and led to a major overhaul of key parliamentary personnel.

Lisa Nandy MP, who has taken over as the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport, will be charged with overseeing Britain’s gambling industry. On the World Series of Politics podcast prior to the election this week, Regulus Partners’ Dan Waugh outlined how a Labour government could impact the gambling industry.

“In terms of whether it has a major bearing on the gambling market, it’s unclear,” Waugh said. “From an industry perspective, it looks reasonably comforting. Labour is making some fairly positive noises about this.

“I’m not sure it’s that straightforward and the reason I say th..

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ITIA bans Spanish tennis player for 15 years over corruption

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned Spanish player Aaron Cortes for 15 years after he was found guilty of a series of corruption charges.

Cortes admitted to 35 breaches of the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). Charges relate to activity between 2016 and 2018.

Breaches include contriving the outcome of events, accepting money to impact outcomes of events and failing to report corrupt approaches. The ITIA also said Cortes wagered on tennis and provided money to tournament officials in exchange for a wild card.

The 29-year-old, who had a career-high world singles ranking of 955 in September 2017, co-operated fully with the ITIA investigation. He also accepted an agreed sanction and waived the right to a hearing before an independent anti-corruption hearing officer.

As a result, Cortes will be banned from 27 March 2024 until 26 March 2039. He has also been ordered to pay a $75,000 (£59,823/€70,039) fine, with $56,250 of this suspended.

During the b..

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Kajuru to lead parliamentary inquiry on Brazil sports betting

Senator Jorge Kajuru has been chosen as the president of a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) on Sports Betting to investigate match-fixing accusations in Brazil sport.

Kajuru, a senator for the Brazilian state of Goiás, will be supported by Senator Eduardo Girão, who will serve as vice-president. Romário, a former footballer who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 before becoming a senator, will be rapporteur of the CPI.

The CPI will meet weekly and investigate complaints made by players, managers and betting companies. If it finds that games have been manipulated, the CPI will request the court system to ban from football the person responsible.

The CPI was first introduced in December. It will consist of 11 sitting senators, as well as seven substitutes.

“I’m sure that this CPI has some objectives and we will achieve them,” Romário said. “We know the problems that our football has experienced.

“Here are people who definitely want to set the record straight. They want to o..

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Botafogo owner reported to Brazilian federal police over match-fixing claims

Senator Jorge Kajuru has requested Brazil's federal police to investigate John Textor, the owner of football club Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, after Textor made match-fixing allegations against the São Paulo and Palmeiras football teams.

Kajuru – a senator for the Brazilian state of Goiás – confirmed the report during a senate plenary meeting yesterday (2 April). He said he had outlined his concerns to the federal police in the form of a letter, which he encouraged others in the session to sign.

During the meeting Kajuru outlined Textor’s allegations. Textor had alleged that five players from the São Paulo football club had received bribes from Palmeiras in regards to the Brazilian Championship Series A game, where Palmeiras beat São Paulo 5-0. He also claimed to have evidence to support this.

Kajuru added that one month prior, Textor said he had a recording of a referee that had been collecting bribes.

Kajuru said that he had sent the claims to Andrei Rodrigues, director of..

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LaLiga clamps down on “nefarious” betting behaviour with US Integrity link

LaLiga has announced a new partnership with sports wagering monitor US Integrity as it looks to cement its “preservation of integrity in sport”.

The deal will provide LaLiga with the services of ProhiBet, the prohibited betting solution launched in February 2023. ProhiBet is a joint venture between US Integrity and Odds On Compliance.

US Integrity offers wagering monitoring services to sporting stakeholders, analysing datasets to identify suspicious betting behaviour. Odds On Compliance, meanwhile, is a compliance technology and consultation firm in sports betting and gaming.

LaLiga will benefit from analytical insights that will aim to ensure Spain’s top two football leagues are played in a fair manner. Suspicious betting activity will be detected with “nefarious” behaviour acted upon thanks to monitoring alerts.

Javier Tebas, LaLiga’s president, said: “This partnership with US Integrity represents a significant milestone in our efforts to safeguard integrity and transparency in p..

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AI roots out 73% of suspicious matches in Sportradar’s 2023 Integrity Report 

Sportradar’s annual Integrity Report revealed it had detected 1,329 suspicious matches during 2023, with AI helping to uncover nearly three quarters of all questionable activity.

Sportradar monitored close to 850,000 events during 2023 – spanning 70 sports, with a total of 1,329 suspicious events occurring across 11 of those sports.

Despite the rise in the number of detections, the actual rate of suspected manipulation remained stable at 0.21% when taking Sportradar’s enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into account. The 1-in-467 manipulation rate was almost level with the 1-in-473 events total from 2022.

Overall, 99.5% of events had no suspicious betting take place, while no sport had a suspicious match ratio higher than 1%. Both of those statistics were the same as last year.

As per Sportradar’s expectations, football and basketball led the way for detections with 880 and 205 suspicious matches respectively. Table tennis was third with 70.

Sportradar’s integrity w..

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ITIA suspends another player over Belgian tennis match-fixing case

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has suspended Tunisian player Anis Ghorbel for three years over corruption linked to the wider match-fixing case in Belgium.

Ghorbel was found guilty of four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). The ITIA said this warranted the suspension and a $20,000 (£15,743/€18,365) fine.

The suspension runs from the date of the decision (4 January) to 3 January 2027.

The offences relate to the fixing of matches in 2016 and 2017. Ghorbel, who has a career-high world singles ranking of 479 in 2016, denies all charges.

Specific breaches of the TACP include two related to section D.2.a.i – failure to report a corrupt approach. The ITIA also noted a single breach of section D.1.b, facilitating betting on the outcome of a match, and section D.1.d of contriving the outcome or aspect of a match.

The suspension means Ghorbel cannot play in, coach at or attend tennis events authorised by ITIA members or national associations.

Charges..

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International cricketer banned for two years for anti-corruption breaches

Bangladesh cricketer Nasir Hossain has been banned by the ICC from all cricket for two years after breaching the Emirates Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Code.

Hossain, who last played for Bangladesh in 2018, accepted three charges of corruption breaches. One of those included Article 2.4.3, having failed to disclose the receipt of a gift worth over $750 (£591/€690), namely a new iPhone 12.

Hossain was one of eight players and officials linked with the Pune Devils franchise charged. The offences were in relation to attempts to corrupt Abu Dhabi T10 Cricket League matches in 2021. While the attempts were disrupted, the charges have still been brought forward.

With six months of his two-year ban suspended, Hossain will be eligible to play international cricket again in April 2025.

Pune Devils co-owners and staff also facing punishment

Along with Hossain, the ICC also flagged a number of Pune Devils coaching staff, as well as co-owners Krishan Kumar Chaudhary and Parag Sanghvi.

pune..

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ITIA bans tennis official for 16 years over corruption charges

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned Bulgarian official Stefan Milanov for 16 years after he was found guilty of a series of corruption offences.

Milanov was charged with 17 breaches of the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). His ban will run from the date of the decision (28 December 2023) until 27 December 2039.

All charges are regarding five tennis matches that Milanov umpired in 2021.

Specific breaches identified by the ITIA include five related to Section D.1.b of the 2021 TACP. This covers directly or indirectly facilitating any other person to wager on the outcome or other aspect of an event.

Five breaches were also noted of Section D.1.m of the TACP – delaying or manipulating entry of scoring data from any event. A further five breaches related to Section D.1.n – directly or indirectly attempting, agreeing or conspiring to commit corruption offences.

The ITIA said the remaining two breaches regarded Section F.2.b of the 2023 TACP. This cov..

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ITIA bans French tennis player for match fixing

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned French player Leny Mitjana for 10 years after finding him guilty of corruption and match-fixing offences.

Mitjana was ruled to have breached the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) 11 times. His ban from tennis runs until December 2033.

The Frenchman, who held a career-high world singles ranking of 458 in 2018, denied all the charges. All charges related to the fixing of matches and the offences took place in 2017 and 2018.

Mitjana was found in breach of sections D.1.b, D.1.d, D.1.e and D.2.a.i of the TACP. These include facilitating wagering, contriving the outcome of matches, influencing other players not to use their best efforts and failing to report corrupt approaches.

The ban is effective from the actual date of the decision (22 December 2023). This means Mitjana cannot play in, coach at or attend any professional tennis event until 21 December 2033.

This covers all events authorised or sanctioned by the me..

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