Cases such as the one he described - Sportradar did not want to divulge the country where it happened, but guaranteed that it was not in Portugal - are exceptional, but the rule is no less worrisome. "The main targets of fixers are goalkeepers and defenses, those who can most easily guarantee direct influence on the outcome; and the most common cases involve a minimum of 3 or 4 players." The more players involved, the more likely it is that the end result is the one that the fixers intend, and there is even a sort of rating that is shared with their "customers" and ranges from 1 (the combined outcome is unlikely to happen ) to 5 (the result is virtually guaranteed).
Still, about 25% of football match-fixing attempts fail. "It's a sport involving a lot of random factors. As a rule, players are approached to lose, but the result also depends on the ability of the opposing team to win, which is not always the case."
Portugal has been at the forefront of combating fraud and illegal gambling. The connection with Sportradar began in 2009, with the monitoring of League I and II and the Portuguese Cup, currently extending to the Portuguese Championship, the League and Futsal League Cup and the Revelation League. The concerns of FPF are right. Rounded down, the annual value of the betting market of Portuguese competitions moved globally reaches 12 billion euros. Yes, enough to "buy" a hundred times a player like John Félix. Only the games of the I League move more than 8 billion euros with each game worth more than 27 million euros. The II Liga represents almost three billion euros per year and each game moves 9.5 million euros.
"The popularity of Portuguese competitions is a concern. They are in the sixth or seventh position in terms of popularity among bettors globally and move values that make them interesting for fixers," explains Tom Mace. If the value is too low, what happens to less credible competitions, any more radical movement triggers the warning systems.
Because "the secret is the soul of the business", Sportradar did not want to reveal the number of suspicious games detected in the Portuguese competitions, but there is no doubt that, since 2008/09 when Sportradar's Fraud Detection System (SDF) was implemented, a total of 4,352 games were manipulated around the world, of which, more than 90% took place in football matches and the phenomenon has been growing. To date, there have been 299 disciplinary sanctions based on SDF reports and 25 individuals have been found guilty and punished in criminal investigations, with the credibility of the system being validated by institutions such as the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport.
FPF invests heavily in prevention
Rute Soares, FPF's Integrity Officer, was part of the delegation that visited the London venue of Sportsradar and made a point of emphasizing the importance of the work carried out by FPF in combating results-vitiation. "The performance of the Portuguese Football Federation is at two levels: that of regulation, with the introduction of rules that provide for specific sanctions for sports agents involved in match-fixing situations; and that of prevention, which goes through training actions with all the clubs of the I and II Leagues, but also in the lower divisions." Rute Soares underlines the importance of this work of alert for a relatively new reality, but also for the severity of the associated sanctions, which are still unknown by a significant part of the players.
João Oliveira, of the Union of Football Players, said that match fixing is a "central concern" for the institution, stressing the importance of Sportradar's work in making accusations "based on credible bases." "The Union has a policy of zero tolerance in relation to this type of situation but will always be intransigent in defending the honor of players" too often the target of false accusations. In addition, João Oliveira points out the need to ensure the suitability of investors in football clubs, as well as the aggravation of penalties for not meeting the wages, factors that aggravate the risk of match fixing situations.
A radar that watches 300 thousand games
The Sportradar Fraud Detection System is a service that identifies manipulation of betting results. The system monitors odds movements of more than 600 operators, including Asian and European bookmakers, regulated and unregulated markets, ensuring a complete overview of the global betting market. With a team of 50 highly qualified integrity analysts operating from offices in London, Manila, Sydney, Montevideo and Minneapolis, and with the support of more than 7,000 data reporters, the SDF analyzes about 300,000 games each years investigating suspicious betting patterns in real time. In the event of suspected illegal activity, an exhaustive report is compiled within a maximum of 72 hours providing a credible platform for disciplinary procedures or criminal investigations in connection with the handling of games.
Source: Jorge Maia - O Jogo
