Sports integrity – FairOdds Network

April 14, 2025

Weekend Report: First US approval for Beter, STS new sportsbook chief, woman wins $15 million judgment against casino

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across the last few days. This week: Beter gains first US approval, STS names new sportsbook chief and a woman wins a $15 million judgment against a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Beter lands first US approval in New Jersey

Sports betting odds, data and content provider Beter has secured its first approval in the US.

Vendor registration from the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement enables Beter to work with licensed operators in the state. This includes delivering its real-time data and live streams.

The first approved product is its flagship Setka Cup table tennis tournaments. This is already live in New Jersey from Bet365.

Beter arranges over 11,000 Setka Cup matches per month, offering more than 30 betting markets per event. In total, it organises over 46,000 fast-betting events monthly across esports and sports disciplines.

“This is a milestone moment for the Beter team,” CEO Gal Ehrlich said..

April 14, 2025

ITIA suspends tennis officials over betting corruption

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has issued suspensions to three officials after they were found guilty of betting-related corruption.

Luis Rodriguez, Antonio Sosa and Wellingthon Lopez have all been charged over corruption. Each tennis official denied the charges relating to breaches between 2018 and 2021.

According to the ITIA, the officials entered false data into match scoring devices to facilitate betting. The ITIA deemed their actions as breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP).

Rodriguez issued lifetime ban from tennis

In the case of Rodriguez, he denied charges over six matches in the Dominican Republic between 2018 and 2020. However, a hearing in December 2024 found him guilty of the breaches.

Independent anti-corruption hearing officer (AHO) Richard Young issued a lifetime ban and a $15,000 (£11,386/€13,184) fine. This came into effect on 21 January this year.

“As a chair umpire, he was in an important position of trust charged with uphold..

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..

April 7, 2025

ITIA sanctions more tennis players over Belgian match-fixing case

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has issued heavy sanctions against a further five players over their links to a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium.

Yannick Thivant, Thomas Brechemier, Gabriel Petit, Thomas Setodji and Hugo Daubias have all been banned or suspended from tennis. The ITIA on Friday said each player committed corruption offences during 2017 or 2018.

The organisation also confirmed each case is linked to the high-profile match-fixing syndicate led by Grigor Sargsyan. A criminal case led to Sargsyan being convicted and given a five-year custodial sentence in 2023.

However, while the case against Sargsyan has ended, the ITIA continues to search for other individuals who were involved. This has led to a host of players being sanctioned, with this group the latest to face action.

ITIA issues lifetime ban to Thivant

Thivant, 38, has been hit hardest. For his role in the scheme, he has been handed a lifetime ban by the ITIA. Anti-corruption hearing officer (A..

March 24, 2025

Kalshi announces RG tools, IC360 partnership as roundtable approaches

Kalshi today (24 March) announced a new responsible gaming hub and a partnership with integrity monitor IC360 as it continues to toe the sports betting line.

In a post on X, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the platform is debuting a ‘Consumer Protection Hub’. This will include “features like deposit caps, trading breaks and voluntary opt-outs”. These features, Mansour said, work in tandem with Kalshi’s “market surveillance team” and regulatory systems.

The phrase “responsible gambling” (RG) is absent from the announcement. However, the features are essentially identical to those offered by regulated sportsbooks. All major operators currently offer deposit and time limits as well as self-exclusion tools.

Mansour also announced Monday that Kalshi is partnering with integrity monitor IC360 for its sports contracts. The CEO said IC360’s data will enhance Kalshi’s “ability to prevent bad actors” and report them to sports leagues and regulators.

No important financial innovation has eve..

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 13, 2025

IBIA 2024 report flags 17% rise in suspicious betting alerts

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) received 219 alerts of suspicious betting activity in 2024, a 17% rise on 2023’s figure. The report was released today (13 February).

However, despite the surge of nearly a fifth from 2023’s revised total of 187 suspicious betting alerts, the IBIA noted the figure remained 11% below the annual average of 245 observed between 2020 and 2023.

As was the case in 2023, football (75 cases) and tennis (58 cases) again led the way for the sports with the most notifications, with both attracting more alerts than in 2023. They combined for 61% of all notifications, down from 64% in 2023.

The IBIA’s alerts system contributed to 33 matches being deemed corrupted, with the association involved in the sanctioning of 17 clubs, players and officials for betting violations.

The association’s membership represents over 70 companies with an annual global betting turnover of $300 billion (£240 billion/€287.7 billion), covering 50% of all regulate..

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..

January 10, 2025

Sportradar integrity report: Brazil no longer leader in football match-fixing cases

The 2024 Sportradar annual integrity report has displayed a significant decline in suspicious match detections for football in Brazil, with the country no longer the most impacted by match-fixing in the sport.

On Thursday (9 January), Sportradar released its ‘Integrity in Action 2024 Global Analysis & Trends’ report for 2024. Its 2023 edition reported Brazil had the most suspicious match detections of all countries surveyed with 109 during the 12-month period.

The 109 figure suspicious match detections in 2023 was a 29% year-on-year reduction on the previous year, though. And there is more positive news for Brazil in this year’s integrity report, as the total number of suspicious football matches dropped by 52 to 57 in Brazil. It was no longer the nation with the most suspicious match detections for the sport in 2024.

Of the 57 detections, four were in competitions organised by the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF), representing just 0.18% of all games overseen by the CBF. Compara..

December 20, 2024

Golfer Penge charged over betting breach

Golf’s DP World Tour has sanctioned English player Marco Penge after he was ruled to have breached the PGA European Tour’s Integrity Programme.

Penge, 26, was found to have placed bets on multiple golf events by an Independent Disciplinary Panel. This, the DP World Tour said, is in direct breach of Regulation 3(a)(i) of the Integrity Programme.

The Tour said Penge did not bet on himself or the progress of tournaments during days when he was participating. As such, the panel ruled that the integrity of such events had not been compromised.

However, as this was still a breach of Tour rules and regulations on betting, it warranted a sanction. As such, Penge has been issued a three-month suspension from golf, with one month suspended for 12 months pending further breaches.

The suspension came into effect on 13 December, meaning Penge cannot compete again until 13 February 2025. In addition, he has been ordered to pay a £2,000 (€2,408/$2,499) fine.

“The panel found that Penge’s immedia..

December 16, 2024

Weekend Report: former Premier League footballer jailed for match-fixing, Zeal celebrates anniversary

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: former Premier League footballer jailed for match-fixing, Veikkaus pens Finnish Ice Hockey Association extension and Zeal reaches 25-year milestone.

Former Premier League footballer faces 20 years in jail

A former Chinese footballer who played in the English Premier League for Everton has been jailed for 20 years for match-fixing.

Li Tie, who also managed China’s national team, pleaded guilty in March to taking over $16.0 million (£12.7 million/€15.2 million) in bribes. The BBC reports that Li also admitted to both accepting and offering bribes.

The court said the offences occurred while Li was an assistant coach at the Hebei China Fortune Club, which previously played in the Chinese Super League but was declared defunct last year. Li worked for the club from 2015 until 2021, when he quit as national coach.

Li would accept bribes to select certain play..

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Tag: Sports integrity