SportRadar Study Zeroes in on Covid-Related Corruption to Protect Punters

Stigmas come and go, but punters always want to bet only on a clean result.

SportRadar Tackles Covid Corruption

That's why the latest finding from leading iGaming integrity firm SportRadar is so important.

Match-fixing may be on the rise as a result of the negative economic impact of Covid—because a more organised level of corruption has arisen directly from the Covid-stricken environment.

SportRadar Spokesperson Speaks

According to SportRadar's Senior Manager of its Integrity Partnerships in Asia Tan You Chen, match-fixers are getting increasingly brazen, and have taken hiding in “plain sight” by joining in sponsorship deals.

Sponsorships Increase Reach

The Sportsradar report projects that sponsorship deals open the door for match-fixers to bring up to 5 players of their own group to the team, a problem which Chen says has become more prevalent during the pandemic's economic conditions:

“Many clubs are struggling financially, some on the verge of bankruptcy and are in desperate need of funds.”

Lower League Vulnerability

Match-fixers are able to fly under the radar by primarily targeting lower-league competitions, where far less scrutiny is applied compared to the highly publicised top league events.

Sport-Fixing Increasing

Spot-fixing is also on the rise and something that players are more susceptible to, because the action does not affect the result of the match. However, in-play betting would be drastically impacted by such spot-fixing activities as point-shaving, Chen continues:

“This phenomenon of spot-fixing is something that we witnessed before Covid and a lot of players and officials think it is not wrong. They feel they are still putting in their best efforts.”

In-Play Betting Affected

Chen points out over outcomes in cricket or the number of yellow cards or corners in a football match as more minute examples of spot-fixing. As match results are not the only thing punters wager on, in-play betting would appear increasingly at risk today.

SportsRadar's Vast Network

SportRadar's expert opinion comes from working closely with the Asia Football Confederation and Hong Kong Football Association to fight corruption and match-fixing and monitoring over 400,000 events per year.

Outlook

Punters are fortunate SportRadar has shared this. The more punters are informed, the more effectively can the standard of integrity of outcomes be maintained in all sports across the world.