Starlizard Integrity Services identifies 84 suspicious football matches played globally in first half of 2022.
31% of suspect games took place in top-level domestic competitions.
New data from Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) has revealed that 84 football matches played around the world between 1January and 30June 2022 were deemed “suspicious”. Of these, 26 (31%) took place in the top-level domestic competitions of various countries.
Matches analysed by SIS are categorised as “suspicious” when they are found to have suspect betting patterns associated with them that may be indicative of match-fixing. While the level of suspicion will vary across matches depending on the nature and amount of evidence discovered, SIS believes that all matches so identified would warrant further investigation.
The 84 matches considered “suspicious” in the first half of 2022 represent 0.45% of a total of 18,845 football matches analysed by SIS during the period.
The SIS data also revealed that:
- The 84 suspicious matches were played in 30 different countries
- 41 of the suspicious matches (49%) were played in the European confederation region, with a further 21 matches (25%) taking place in the Asian confederation region
- 12 of the matches (14%) were international matches – i.e. matches that do not fall within a specific country in any of the prescribed confederation regions, such as international fixtures, cross-border club competitions, and all club team friendly matches
- 5 of the matches (6%) were non-competitive friendly matches
Affy Sheikh, Head of Starlizard Integrity Services, commented: “These statistics provide an insight into the extent of suspected match-fixing in football – and underline the need for greater diligence in combatting the ever-present threat of match manipulation in the sport. The rate of suspected match manipulations in football in the first half of this year is consistent with that of the two previous years.
It is also deeply worrying to see top-level domestic competitions featuring so prominently amongst these suspicious matches, which perhaps dispels the common misconception that match manipulation tends to occur only in the lower leagues. This latest data serves as a reminder that a committed and concerted effort needs to be made if we are to make a tangible impact on the problem of match-fixing.”
*****
About Starlizard Integrity Services
Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) is the specialist integrity division of Starlizard, the London-based sports betting consultancy. Starlizard’s detailed understanding of sport and sporting performance, as well as its active involvement in betting markets, affords a unique perspective, enabling the company to know better than anyone else in the world when betting markets and sporting contests look wrong. Starlizard has been producing independent integrity services for sports governing bodies and associations since 2010, and established SIS in 2017 as a dedicated resource to focus entirely on this work. Combining its deep insight into how betting markets should behave with detailed on-pitch performance data analysis and research, SIS is ideally placed to identify suspicious matches and betting patterns. For more information, visit www.starlizardintegrity.com