Ko·mo·do dragon
[kə-ˈmō-dō- ]
a monitor lizard, the largest of all known lizards
I am immensely proud to see Starlizard Integrity Services today launch Komodo, an innovative, secure and completely free sports integrity information platform designed for sports governing bodies, law enforcement agencies and public authorities.
The initial idea for Komodo came to us before the pandemic – it seemed like such an obvious thing for us to do. Wouldn’t it be great if we created a dedicated alerts database that notified the relevant authorities whenever we detect a suspicious match? Where each such authority has its own secure area, much like a bank account, containing relevant and useful information applicable to them in the fight against match-fixing?
We could drop all the important material into the system and off an alert would go, through the ether, making its way to governing bodies and others around the world. We could also use that data to present and visualise trends and patterns, giving valuable strategic insights into the state of suspected match-fixing in sport.
We felt this was a conspicuous missing piece in the anti-match fixing jigsaw: a simple integrity reporting and communications system. A straightforward, effortless, easy-to-subscribe-to service with no commercial considerations to obstruct it.
It snowballed in development of course… “Let’s add a chat function!”, someone suggested. “How about if we could upload detailed match analysis reports and then give the user permission to download these at the other end?” piped someone else. “What about video footage?”
Why did we call it Komodo? Well, the name seemed appropriate…. the Komodo dragon is a monitor lizard and we, Starlizard, monitor sports. As an important electronic tool in the fight against match-fixing, Komodo monitors sport and notifies when something is wrong. Komodo serves to protect.
And we are especially proud that we have been able to make Komodo a free service to sports and enforcement agencies. Completely gratis. We’ve never been comfortable with the idea of monetising integrity services and historically we have done everything we can to avoid it. Fortunately, we are in a position where we have an army of expert Starlizard analysts generating exceptionally high-quality information on potential match-fixing. By sharing this information, we can help to identify and root out corruption in sport – there’s seems little point in just sitting on it, after all.
Komodo currently services football, but its portfolio of sports will increase over time. Already we’re working on cricket and tennis. So here’s our invitation: if you are from a football governing body or a law enforcement organisation with a remit for anti-corruption in sport, then get in touch and we’ll see if Komodo can assist you. And remember: it’s completely free.
Affy Sheikh
Head of Starlizard Integrity Services
9th March 2023