Former Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has called for betting limits in order to curb cheating in, and the fixing of, football games. Following the arrest of six people, including one second-tier player, during an investigation of spot-fixing in football, Sutcliffe made an address to Sports Minister Helen Grant requesting that a meeting be convened between leading figures in both football and betting organisations to discuss the issue.Ms Grant agreed that the issue should be discussed by leaders of both football and betting agencies, citing a recent meeting called by Culture Secretary Maria Miller in which FA boss Alex Horne indicated that the problem was not wide-scale. However, Ms Grant has, in the past, insisted that the sport’s existing rules and laws were sufficient. Shadow culture minister Clive Efford also requested that she rethink her position following the recent allegations.
Spot-Fixing
Spot-fixing refers to an illegal activity in which only a specific part of the game is fixed. For example, only a certain number of yellow or red cards are thrown during the match, or a certain number of corner kicks are awarded. While betting on such statistics increases the odds, and excitement, for those placing wagers, it also increases the odds that certain elements of the game will be fixed by officials, or even players.
Worldwide Monitoring
A company called Sportradar monitors the bets placed on over 55,000 matches each year. According to the company’s algorithms, covering 350 bookmakers worldwide, potential fixes are detected in approximately 1% of matches every year. 1% may not seem like much, but it means that more than 500 matches are potentially fixed each year, and that millions of pounds are potentially turned over due to criminal activities.
Interpol is Already Involved
- To date, Interpol, the international crime investigation organization, claims that its Operation Soga, an operation led against illegal soccer betting, has seized more than $27m (£16.8) in ill-gotten betting funds, and shut down illicit gambling operations which handled wagers worth a total of more than $2bn (£1.2bn).
- Sports betting moves between $700bn and $1tn (£435bn to £625bn) each year, 70% of which is estimated to come from football.
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