A total of 42 suspicious betting reports have been submitted to the relevant authorities by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) in Q3 2024.
The number represents a 16% YoY decline from the 50 alerts submitted to Q3 2023, and is 54% less than the 91 reports from Q2 2024.
It goes without saying that Q2 was a turbulent period for suspicious betting, but the latest figures suggest a calmer period for the IBIA as we slowly but surely head into the new year.
Five sports in total are responsible for the latest series of submitted reports, spanning across 18 countries and five continents.
Football and tennis had the most cases of suspicious betting activity in Q3, with 14 each shared amongst them – constituting 67% of all the alerts.
This is not surprising, given that a few months prior the IBIA released a study where it highlighted that the sports markets are two of the most at-risk from match-fixing and results manipulation.
Just this year in tennis alone there have been numerous cases of professionals being banned on the grounds of corruption.
Looking back at the Q3 report, esports returned a total of 12 alerts, which is a 75% decrease from the 48 in the previous quarter.
Geographically, Europe made up 33% of the total reported incidents with its 14 alerts, which is 6 less than the 20 reports made in Q2 2024.
Burundi, a country in East Africa that is not often looked at despite lagging behind when it comes to player protection, produced five alerts coming from sporting events – a first for the nation since 2020 under IBIA observation, and 12% of the total Q3 alerts.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “The third quarter saw football and tennis register the highest number of alerts, albeit those numbers are in line with those seen in recent years and, in the case of tennis, represent a significant decrease compared to its peak.
“It should also be noted that esports alerts fell back to more normal levels in Q3, following an increase during Q1 and Q2 that was primarily the result of a linked case.
“We continue to work closely with the integrity authorities for those sports, and indeed all sports, where we see suspicious betting, with the aim of detecting and sanctioning corrupt activity to protect sporting events and betting markets.”