Dutch gambling regulator sees steep drop in match-fixing reports

The KSA’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit has published its annual report.

The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator KSA’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) has published its document on the match-fixing reports received in 2023. The report shows an 85 per cent drop in reports year-on-year, down from 40 in 2022 to just six in 2023.

There were three cases of unusual betting patterns, one case of players betting on games they took part in, one case of offering bets on an event not approved on the KSA’s whitelist, and one report of prohibited betting. 

The SBIU acts as a point of contact for sports betting providers and informants. The KSA is not legally obliged to monitor for match-fixing but it passes information to the national Financial Intelligence Unit for investigation under the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act (Wwwft).

The regulator said it was too early to conclude the match-fixing was on the decline since it said there was a chance that operators’ awareness of their duty to inform the SBIU of suspicions had fallen.

The KSA said that as of January, seventeen operators are licensed to offer sports betting and 13 are live.

Earlier this week, KSA published its Supervisory Agenda for 2024. Key objectives for the year will include an increased focus on monitoring operators’ duty of care measures, measures to target the supply chain for unlicensed online gambling, undertaking independent investigations and a data-driven approach to risk-based monitoring.