Starlizard Integrity Services reveals 159 suspicious football matches played worldwide during 2024
The report noted an ‘apparent shift’ to the South American region.
Key points:
– Total suspicious matches fell from the previous year
– Domestic league and cup competitions had the highest number of suspicious matches
Integrity specialists Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) recently conducted a study on global betting activities and monitored 74,386 football matches played during 2024.
According to the findings, SIS discovered 159 matches played globally throughout the year showed “indicators of potential manipulation.”
However, these results fell by 12 when compared to numbers posted the previous year.
Out of the total discovered, 139 suspicious matches identified last year “were played in domestic league and cup competitions.”
Affy Sheikh, Head of Starlizard Integrity Services, discussed the recent results by saying: “We are encouraged by the findings of the 2024 report, which show a slight decrease in the number and proportion of suspicious football matches compared to the previous year.
‘Any fall in the level of suspicious matches is to be welcomed as it may indicate that efforts to enhance the integrity of football are making a positive impact.”
However, Sheikh noted some “ongoing concerns” in the report, including a shift to the South American region. The study found that 67 suspicious matches came from South America.
“This is the highest regional percentage of suspicious matches and above the global average percentage of 0.21%,” SIS said in its research.
Sheikh commented: “This, together with the continued high prevalence of suspicious betting on First-Half Only markets and the persistence of suspicious activity in friendly matches, underscore the ongoing need for vigilance and robust measures to combat match manipulation.
“Starlizard Integrity Services remain committed to working with our partners across the globe to ensure the integrity of football at all levels, particularly through our Komodo anti-match-fixing platform, which is available for free to sports governing bodies and law enforcement agencies.”
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