Match-fixing – FairOdds Network

April 9, 2025

NCAA intensifies responsible gambling campaign as college hoops scandals linger

US authorities are still conducting a sweeping probe into an illicit betting ring with alleged connections to pro and college basketball.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament ended on Monday night (7 April) with a scintillating comeback by the University of Florida, which erased a 12-point second-half deficit to edge Houston in the national title game.

In the past, the Cougars’ defeat may have provided famed bettor Jim McIngvale with nagging indigestion, due to the Houston furniture store owner’s affinity for placing seven-figure bets backing the Cougars. Last year, the entrepreneur stood to make $15 million (£11.7 million/€13.6 million) if Kelvin Sampson’s team cut down the nets. In the run-up to this year’s Final Four, though, no large bet from McIngvale was publicised.

As part of an initiative to promote responsible gambling, the NCAA has urged bettors to gamble within their means. Throughout March Madness, the NCAA promoted its “Draw the Line” educational campaign about gambling..

March 17, 2025

Darts player banned for eight years over match-fixing

English-Indian darts player Prakash Jiwa has been banned from the sport for eight years after being found guilty of match-fixing and betting on darts in the UK.

Issued by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA), the ban will run through 6 November 2031. The ban, announced by the Gambling Commission on 14 March, means Jiwa will not be able to participate in any DRA events for six and a half years.

The DRA issued the eight-year ban, which has been partially backdated. It set out details of the offences during a Disciplinary Committee hearing in January. Four matches of interest were flagged for match fixing, all of which featured Jiwa.

Jiwa lost 4-0 to both Owen Bates on 16 February 2023 and Adam Hunt a day later. He also lost 4-1 to Peter Hudson and to Willie Borland, in matches that took place on 1 June 2023.

Suspicious darts betting flagged by IBIA

Detailing the case, the DRA said it was made aware of the issue by an International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) alert the day ..

February 12, 2025

Bangladesh cricket player banned over match-fixing at T20 World Cup

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Bangladesh player Shohaly Akhter for five years after she admitted to fixing matches.

Akhter was found to have breached several provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. As such, she will serve a five-year ban from cricket, with this covering any form of participation in the sport.

The ICC, which published its decision yesterday (11 February), did not say how many matches were impacted. It did, however, confirm that the corruption case relates to the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Akhter did not play in the tournament.

Five breaches of cricket fixing rules

In total, the 36-year-old bowler was found guilty of five breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code. The first is Article 2.1.3, relating to fixing or in any way influencing an international match by deliberately underperforming.

Akhter also admitted to breaching Article 2.1.3, in reference to seeking, accepting or offering a bribe or other reward to influence a match…

February 4, 2025

ITIA bans more tennis players linked to Belgian match-fixing syndicate

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned a further six current and former players linked to a high-profile, match-fixing syndicate in Belgium.

Jerome Inzerillo, David Guez, Romain Bauvy, Yannick Jankovits, François-Arthur Vibert and Agustin Moyano, have all been formally banned from the sport after the ITIA announced the sanctions, all of which relate to match-fixing, on 31 January.

Detailing the cases, the ITIA said all are linked to the match-fixing syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan. The criminal case led to the conviction of Sargsyan, who was handed a five-year custodial sentence in 2023. However, the fall-out continues with the ITIA continuing to track down additional players involved in the case.

French tennis players admit to charges

From the latest tranche of players, five admitted to breaches, relating to matches played in 2017 and 2018. Three French tennis players accepted the sanctions, waiving their rights to a hearing before an independent anti-corrup..

December 3, 2024

UK darts players handed lengthy bans for match-fixing

The UK's Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) yesterday (2 December) banned players Leighton Bennett and Billy Warriner after they were found guilty of and admitted to charges of match-fixing.

Bennett has been suspended from darts for eight years and Warriner 10 years. The British players have also been ordered to pay £8,100 (€9,762/$10,271) each in costs.

The DRA ruling follows an International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) report for suspicious betting activity released in September 2023. This relates to matches played in the Modus Super Series.

The matches in question saw Bennett play Mindaugas Barauskas and Benjamin Drue-Reus, both on 6 September 2023. Two more games took place on 8 September 2023, with Bennett facing Ryan Harrington and Barauskas for a second time.

Working with the Gambling Commission Sports Betting Intelligence Unit, the DRA launched a full investigation into the matter.

The DRA ruled both players had cases to answer for “serious” breaches of its rul..

October 30, 2024

Brazil ministry of finance agrees partnerships with match-fixing monitoring bodies

On Tuesday (29 October), Brazil's ministry of finance announced it has agreed to partner with four industry monitoring and integrity organisations to aid the fight against match-fixing.

The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), which sits within the ministry of finance, penned Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACTs) with Genius Sports, Sportradar, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (Siga and Siga Latin America) to counter fears over match-fixing in Brazil.

The partnerships will last for five years, with the collaborations aiming to strengthen the safety network surrounding the manipulation of sports in Brazil. They will consider the bodies’ learnings and experience in more mature markets like England and Australia.

The agreements will also serve to help the SPA gain knowledge of the betting market in Brazil, educating SPA teams on how to monitor the legal sports betting sector, which is set to go live alongside igamin..

October 8, 2024

G2E: When it comes to integrity, industry should “celebrate its wins”

In 2023, 10 NFL players were suspended for violating league gambling rules and a college baseball scandal involving insider information was uncovered. An outcry questioning the legal industry followed. But those who specialise in integrity monitoring say that instead, the industry – and others – should celebrate.
“Let’s not fool ourselves – matching fixing and integrity issues aren’t new,” Jim Brown, head of integrity services & harm prevention in North America for Sportradar, said. “This brings better protections.”

The NFL and NCAA examples were among many in 2023 and 2024 that involved the gambling industry policing itself and uncovering banned or illegal activity.

Brown was speaking as part of the ‘Tackling Match Fixing: Gaming and Global Sports Cooperation’ panel at G2E in Las Vegas on Monday (7 October). Jess Feil, OpenBet VP of regulatory affairs and compliance and Matt Fowler, head of global operations for the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), joined Brown a..

September 24, 2024

Svenska Spel targets high school athletes in latest match-fixing campaign

Svenska Spel is taking a hardline stance on match-fixing by joining forces with various local sports associations to launch a new awareness campaign.
The ‘My match’ campaign warns match-fixing is the biggest threat to sport today. It urges those involved in sport to “say no” to manipulation and report any incidences.

Sweden’s Basketball Association, E-sports Association, Ice Hockey Association, Tennis Association and Football Association are involved in the initiative.

It is largely targeting high school athletes hoping to influence them to speak up if they are aware of any manipulation taking place. Various campaign videos will be shown in schools and at referee meetings across the various sporting associations involved.

“Match-fixing goes against sport’s fundamental idea of fair play, which is a prerequisite for the sport’s credibility and survival,” the campaign’s question and answers page explains.

“The main aim is to counteract the culture of silence that can arise when peo..

August 19, 2024

Brazil committee endorses harsher penalties for match-fixing

Brazil's constitution and justice committee (CCJ) of the chamber of deputies has passed a bill that seeks to make the penalties for those found to have manipulated matches harsher.
The bill is looking to amend Brazil’s General Sports Law. It was originally authored by representative Bandeira de Mello before representative Orlando Silva drafted a revised version.

Current penalties for those guilty of match-fixing are a prison term of between two and six years as well as a fine. The substitute bill would increase that penalty from a third to a half should the person involved serve as a referee, player, coach, bettor or agent as well as a manager, director or representative of a sports club.

Additionally, the amended bill includes a prison sentence of between two and six years for those who solicit or recruit people such as referees, athletes, coaches or directors to commit manipulation.

The sports committee had already approved the bill. The chamber of deputies’ plenary will now ..

August 7, 2024

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 ..

April 11, 2024

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..

November 13, 2023

ITIA bans seven Belgian tennis players for match-fixing

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has issued bans to seven Belgian players after a court ruled they were involved with a match-fixing syndicate in the country.

All seven players were found in breach of the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). As a result of their involvement in tennis match-fixing, they will serve bans of various lengths.

The players in question are Arnaud Graisse, Arthur de Greef, Julien Dubail, Romain Barbosa, Maxime Authom, Omar Salman and Alec Witmeur. All were convicted by a criminal court in Belgium and agreed sanctions with the ITIA.

The case relates to a Belgian match-fixing syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan. The recent criminal case led to the conviction of Sargsyan, who was handed a five-year custodial sentence.

Described by the Washington Post as “the man who built the biggest match-fixing ring in tennis”, Sargsyan had traversed the globe since 2018 to build a network of more than 180 professional players across five continents.
..

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Tag: Match-fixing