KSA: Potential match-fixing reports doubled in 2024
In the Netherlands, a new unit has been set up within the KSA specifically to handle cases of potential match-fixing.
Key points:
– The Dutch Gambling Authority recorded 13 reports of potential match-fixing in 2024, compared to six in 2023
– Most of the reports came from tennis matches
– The KSA notes that while reports are increasing, so is the awareness around the topic
While the KSA has no jurisdiction to detect possible match-fixing, it does have a responsibility to oversee that operators are taking any reports seriously.
To support this, the KSA has established a Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) to collect and monitor any reports of sports betting.
By the end of December 2024, SBIU had received 13 reports of possible match-fixing from eight different operators – 10 of which were in the first three months of the year.
Out of the 13 possible match-fixing reports,10 were from tennis matches, two from football and one from basketball.
One of the reports was due to a drastic change in odds, which resulted in the team in question to be blacklisted by the licence holder.
Two were due to customers bidding on a potentially risky match, which has since triggered an internal investigation by the licence holders.
No winnings were paid out in this case and the participant will no longer be able to have bets placed on them.
The remaining ten reports were from particular betting patterns, such as players suddenly dumping large amounts of money on particular bets at key moments of matches.
In these cases, operators are expected to limit the accounts and betting options of the users.
Good to know: Last year, the number of licensed sports betting operators in the Netherlands totalled 22 and 19 of these could offer betting on live sports events
While the number of reports have doubled this year, the KSA does emphasise that this could be simply due to the SBIU creating more awareness around the matter, as opposed to increased criminal activity.
The KSA also noted that “there have been no reports this year about athletes who have bet on their own competition or watch. Whether this is because this did not happen within the legal gambling world, because gambling operators did not notice or because this simply was not reported, this cannot be said”.
Yesterday, the KSA made another integrity-based announcement, when The Hague upheld its decision to refuse a licence to a Malta-based provider.
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