Suspicious esports betting on the rise as IBIA expands Q3 membership

Suspicious esports betting on the rise as IBIA expands Q3 membership

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 76 cases of suspicious betting registered by its partner organisations during Q3 2022.

Although an overall decline on the total Q2 figure of 88,  Europe again accounted for the most alerts at 37, a similar trend to previous reports – in the second quarter 46 came from the continent. 

Europe was followed by Asia at eight and South America and Africa in joint third place with seven reports, whilst just one originated in North America.

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “Alerts for the quarter are at the higher end of the scale compared to previous years, but must be viewed against the association’s substantial growth in membership during the year. 

“That has served to increase global market coverage and the alerts identified and reported, underlining the beneficial impact of a global multi-operator betting integrity network.”

Of the 20 European nations from which reports originated, tennis was the most common sport at 23, with Italy and Spain accounting for the largest numbers at four and three. 

This was followed by table tennis with 10 alerts, of which five came from Poland, three from Hungary and two from Spain, whilst football alerts were recorded in Bulgaria (1) and Lithuania (1), one horse racing alert from Ireland and one snooker report from the UK. 

Mirroring previous trends, tennis was the most dominant sport represented in the IBIA’s Q3 figures with 33 alerts, followed by esports with 16 – a noticeable increase on past figures.

In comparison, football alerts fell by 60% from 32 to 13, a year-on-year decline of 28% from 18 alerts in Q3 2021, having outpaced tennis in this regard from April to June 2022.

Meanwhile, 10 alerts were generated by table tennis matches, whilst badminton, snooker, basketball and horse racing all accounted for one each, split across Europe, Asia and South America. 

The rise in esports alerts in comparison to H1, when there were just five reports, was attributed by the IBIA to an increase in membership, as referred to by Ali. 

Over the past quarter the number of operators ‘with a strong esports focus’ joining the IBIA has increased, such as GRID earlier this month. 

Ali concluded: “IBIA continues to work closely with its members and external stakeholders, such as sports and regulators, to ensure that suitable risk management processes are implemented and encourages a zero-tolerance approach to the manipulation of sporting events and associated betting fraud.”

Source: SBC News