Juan Matias Méndez, Sportradar: “Regulation is a huge positive for integrity and clean sport”

Juan Matias Méndez, business development Manager at Sportradar, delves into the landscape of the sports betting industry.

Exclusive interview.- As the industry grapples with the pervasive threat of match-fixing, Juan Matias Méndez, business development manager at Sportradar, discusses global challenges in the dynamic world of sports betting, regulatory developments in Brazil, and the company’s multifaceted approach to combating manipulation.

How do you evaluate the environment in the sports betting industry, as a result of recent investigations related to manipulation of results in different disciplines, such as football and tennis?

We know that match-fixing networks exist and are targeting many sporting events at all levels, as has been the case for multiple decades now. Across 2023 so far, we have detected 1,201 suspicious matches across global sports, in 100 different countries. 

The continued threat of match-fixing is there for all to see, and we at Sportradar are fully committed to helping detect match-fixing, prevent it, investigate it, and support our partners in helping to sanction and prosecute individuals involved. 

Organizations work closely with us in helping to achieve these goals, but the fight is ongoing with a constant evolution of both match-fixers adapting their methods, and those of us in the anti-match-fixing space constantly developing and improving our technology, tools and skills to counter the threat they pose. 

“We at Sportradar are fully committed to helping detect match-fixing, prevent it, investigate it, and support our partners in helping to sanction and prosecute individuals involved.” 

Juan Matias Méndez, business development manager at Sportradar.

Do you consider that the cases investigated in Brazil – Operación Máximum II accelerated the regulation of the industry?

Based on our experience in other markets and regarding the regulation, countries such as Spain, France and the United Kingdom have established specific legislation for the sector, creating a solid regulatory environment for operators and bettors. Each of these countries has its own requirements for obtaining licenses, ensuring punter safety and combating illegal activities. 

During the previous years, we called attention to this topic and partnered with relevant national and state-level stakeholders. We also signed an MoU with the Federal Police to support investigations and back their efforts to tackle the constantly growing problem.  

With the advancement of regulation in the market, Brazil can position itself alongside nations that already legislate and have specific laws aimed at sports betting. 

Do you believe that this practice will end in Brazil with the regulation of sports betting?

The reasons for the continued impact match-fixing is having on global sport – including in Brazil – are complex, but there are several key risk factors with the financial concerns of players and their clubs and a lack of preventative measures and integrity protections at the forefront of this.

Economic instability at clubs and leagues and its resultant impact on the salaries and well-being of players, coaches, officials and even club executives can make them more susceptible to match-fixing approaches by organized crime groups and other opportunists as a means of making up for lost revenue.

In addition to this, countries and regions still maintain gaps in terms of legislation, in terms of sporting codes or criminal laws. Official agencies and bodies are not always prepared to understand the magnitude and sophisticated architecture of the schemes, their international coordination, modus operandi, and trends. 

In summary, match-fixing has become fertile ground for organizations that look for higher profits and lower risks.  

Regulation is a huge positive for integrity and clean sport as it means that there are channels for betting operators to report suspicious activity to regulators and leagues, and enables more communication between all sporting stakeholders. 

In an unregulated market, there is no audit trail in terms of the identification of bettors behind the suspicious betting (important to inform investigations), as there are no reporting mechanisms to facilitate any kind of information sharing. However, with the correct provisions in place, the anti-match-fixing fight is strengthened by a healthy, transparent sports betting infrastructure. However, regulation alone will not ‘cure’ match-fixing overnight, there is a constant need for investment and action from all relevant stakeholders, such as sporting bodies and law enforcement agencies. 

The forthcoming regulation of the Brazilian sports betting market presents a development that all of us who care about the integrity of sport in Brazil should look upon as a significant opportunity for change. 

We at Sportradar believe in a holistic approach to these challenges, with sporting bodies, service providers and law enforcement working together to tackle match-fixing. 

“In an unregulated market, there is no audit trail in terms of the identification of bettors behind the suspicious betting.”

Juan Matias Méndez, business development manager at Sportradar.

What are the keys to avoiding the manipulation of results?

The measures that can be taken to try and help prevent match-fixing differ on a case-by-case basis, depending on the situation. That being said, Sportradar Integrity Services, when looking to combat match-fixing, approaches the issue in several different but connected ways. 

The first of these revolves around prevention, and Sportradar Integrity Services hosts educational workshops for clubs and league partners globally. This education details the dangers of becoming involved with match-fixing, as well as introducing the audience of players, officials and coaches to the modus operandi of match-fixers, and gives an understanding to these individuals about the best practices regarding the reporting of any approaches. 

Bet monitoring and detection is also a crucial tool for the prevention of match-fixing. Federations across all sports should utilize bet monitoring, which Sportradar Integrity Services provides free of charge through the Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS). 

Despite the best efforts of all involved, and education to individuals, it is crucial that visibility is maintained over the global match-fixing landscape, and bet monitoring is central to ensuring that if a problem does exist, it is detected.  

There is also a need for intelligence and investigation. Sportradar’s Intelligence & Investigations team is a sophisticated intelligence unit that offers due diligence, monitoring and investigation products and services that provide bespoke support to mitigate risks and threats across a broad range of issues faced by sporting bodies. 

Whilst it is necessary to bring sanctions against individuals directly involved in match-fixing, in order to prevent it from occurring, the source of manipulation needs to be identified, and red flags can be identified intelligence work before a problem manifests through preventative measures like conducting due diligence on players, coaches, investors and sponsors through this intelligence work. 

Heavier penalties for those found guilty of match-fixing, whether by their sporting federation or in a court of law, can also help. Unfortunately, this is not even possible sometimes because countries lack the legal framework to prosecute against match-fixing. And yes, greater cooperation is also key in the fight against match-fixing. 

Networks like the Sportradar Integrity Exchange are crucial, as they bring stakeholders in the sports betting industry together to pool resources and exchange information, enabling corruption to be tackled from different aspects of the industry, which can only be a good thing in this enduring fight.  

These solutions are crucial components to a successful strategy against match-fixing; however, it is the way that the specific sporting federation, or preferably, a national regulator implements their strategies that has the greatest impact. 

A truly holistic approach is crucial, with integrity service providers, sporting bodies, bookmakers, and law enforcement/investigatory authorities working in tandem and sharing key information about those behind match-fixing attempts, identifying suspicious bettors, corrupt players and those individuals actually orchestrating the match manipulation. 

Finally, Sportradar Integrity Services has understood the real value of having local knowledge involved in all these processes, not only due to language needs but also because of the general understanding of needs from local stakeholders. During the last few years, we have built up a strong and knowledgeable local team capable of providing high-standard quality reporting, follow-ups to explain the cases in detail and responding to local inquiries to support our clients’ investigations. 

Our team can back our partners in every single aspect when it comes to integrity topics, something that has been highly valued by clients and local authorities. 

“We have built up a strong and knowledgeable local team capable of providing high-standard quality reporting.”

Juan Matias Méndez, business development manager at Sportradar.

How can Sportradar collaborate with companies? What is the badge of your services?

Sportradar Integrity Services is a leading supplier of monitoring, intelligence, education, and consultancy solutions for sports organizations, state authorities, and law enforcement agencies to support them in the fight against match-fixing and corruption. 

At the heart of the company’s bet monitoring is our UFDS, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which analyses more than 900,000 matches across 70-plus sports annually.  

Two years ago, Sportradar made a strong commitment to offering the UFDS, free of charge, to any sports federation or league that wants to use it. Today over 180 partners rely on the UFDS for their bet monitoring needs. 

This is part of the company’s pledge toward protecting the integrity of global sport and making the system accessible to all. If a league wishes to utilize the UFDS, they simply need to get in touch with us to start a collaboration. 

Our other free-of-charge initiative to support the anti-match-fixing cause is the Sportradar Integrity Exchange, a global network of betting operators who share potential integrity concerns and suspicious betting incidents with Sportradar. 

This network is already improving the flow of information between all relevant stakeholders (sports, police, regulatory authorities and betting companies), helping to get investigations up and running faster, and improving their chances of success. 

Once again, betting operators need only to reach out to Sportradar and learn more about how they can join our Integrity Exchange, free-of-charge.