IBIA: uptick in suspicious betting alerts in 2024
A rise in alerts from Asia and Africa contrasted with the improvement in Europe.
UK.- The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has reported that it received 219 suspicious betting alerts in 2024. That’s a rise of 17 per cent from 187 in 2023 but remains below the 268 alerts reported in 2022 and is 11 per cent below the average of 245 alerts per year between 2020 and 2023.
Europe saw a notable improvement, with the number of suspicious betting incidents reported falling from 113 in 2023 to 80 in 2024. However, the number of alerts from Asia rose from 17 to 40 and the number from Africa rose from 16 to 28. An increase in alerts could also mean better detection and reporting.
Football and tennis continue to account for the majority of alerts at 61 per cent. There were 75 alerts related to football and 36 related to tennis. Table tennis came third again with 36 incidents reported. As for geography, alerts came from 53 countries. The Czech Republic had the highest tally at 19, followed by Turkey at 11.
IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said: “The integrity position remains relatively consistent with previous years, with the focus of suspicious betting remaining primarily on football and tennis. A geographical shift away from European sporting events was observed, but it is too early to determine if this is an ongoing trend.
“As with all potentially corrupt activity, IBIA is analysing the data and working with its members and global integrity network to implement targeted countermeasures. IBIA’s growing membership are resolute in their commitment to identifying, disrupting, and preventing corrupt sports betting activity and to working with stakeholders.”
The IBIA has a membership of over 70 gambling operators with a combined annual global betting turnover of £240bn. The body estimates that it covers around 50 per cent of all regulated commercial online betting activity.
