The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 236 cases of suspicious betting to authorities in 2021, down 13% on the 270 cases reported in 2020.
The 2021 figure included 43 cases reported in Asia, broadly in line with 45 a year earlier and still significantly fewer than Europe, which was responsible for 118, or 50%, of total alerts.
Tennis and football continue to be the most affected sports with tennis responsible for 80 alerts in 2021, down 18% year-on-year, and football for 66 alerts, up 8%. In total, the alerts spanned 13 sports and 49 different countries of which Russia recorded the most alerts for a single country with 27.
Of the 236 cases reported by the IBIA in 2021, 11 resulted in successful sporting or criminal sanctions, it said.
“Another challenging year for the sector has passed with the spectre of COVID and its impact on sporting events declining, and hopefully a potential endgame in sight,” said Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA.
“It is therefore welcomed that the alerts for 2021 showed a downward trend and a return to pre-COVID numbers. Challenges however persist, notably with the growth of private sports events and establishing integrity protocols to the levels seen in traditional sports bodies. The association is working with a number of stakeholders in this area to improve integrity provisions.”
IBIA said it reported a combined 1,222 alerts across 19 sports and 101 countries in the five year period spanning 2017 to 2021.
