IBIA or International Betting Integrity Association has revealed on the latest report that football and tennis remain at high risk from suspicious betting.
Data for the first quarter of 2024 shows that out of 56 total alerts, 24 were from football events, accounting for 43%. Additionally, 18 alerts were from tennis events, accounting for 25%.
Alerts increased overall during the quarter. In 2023 up 65% on the fourth quarter and 12% on the first quarter in 2023. The latter sees 50 alerts.
Next to football and tennis, four sports spread the remaining 14 alerts. These are basketball having nine alerts and 16% of total, esports having six alerts and 11%, table tennis having two alerts and 14%, and cricket having one alert and 1%.
IBIA detailed that the 24 alerts marked a 50% increase on the 16 reported in the Q4 of last year and a 60^ increase on the 15 reported in Q1. This is looking at football specifically.
The IBIA CEO, Khalid Ali, said that the first quarter saw an increase in reported alerts. This highlights the ongoing challenge their members, sports, and regulatory authorities face from corrupt activity. Football and Asia dominated their A1 report.
Asia accounted for the highest number of alerts at 23, 41% of the total, geographically. North America and South America each followed with 10 alerts, respectively having 18% of the total. Europe had four alerts, accounting for 7%, while Africa had three, representing 5%. Moreover, 11% of the 56 alerts could not be assigned to any geographical location.
Turkey was the source of the single largest number of alerts with eight cases being flagged, regarding countries. It represents 14% of the total alerts during the quarter. Five of these were for tennis, while two were for football, and one is for basketball.
