Starlizard Integrity Services identifies 79 suspicious football matches played globally in first half of 2024

The 79 matches considered suspicious in the first half of 2024 represent 0.21% of a total of 36,841 football matches analysed by SIS during the period. SIS also identified 79 suspicious matches played during the same period in 2023, however those came from a smaller sample of 16,336 matches, so represented a greater percentage (0.48%) of the total number of matches analysed.

The SIS 2024 first-six-months data revealed that:

Affy Sheikh, Head of Starlizard Integrity Services, commented:

"The 2024 half-year figures reveal several concerning insights, with few positives to report. In particular, the data highlights a troubling situation in the CONMEBOL region, where the number of suspicious matches has surged by 200% compared to the same period last year. This stark increase serves as a clear reminder that match-fixers are constantly adapting and will exploit any vulnerabilities they find.

"Additionally, we are witnessing a growing trend of manipulation in first-half-only betting markets. In the first six months of 2024, 40 matches were targeted in this way, up from 21 during the same period in 2023 – itself a significant rise.

"Whilst the overall percentage of suspicious matches remains low, the data nevertheless shows match-fixing poses a continuing and severe threat to the integrity of the game. Football must engage in serious reflection on how best to tackle this issue, as the persistent lack of improvement in numbers across the board suggests that current efforts and strategies are not effective enough."

About Starlizard Integrity Services

Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) is the specialist integrity division of Starlizard, the London-based sports betting and data consultancy. Starlizard's detailed understanding of sport and sporting performance, as well as its active involvement in betting markets, affords a unique perspective, enabling the company to know better than anyone else in the world when betting markets and sporting contests look wrong. Starlizard has been producing independent integrity services for sports governing bodies and associations since 2010, and established SIS in 2017 as a dedicated resource to focus entirely on this work. Combining its deep insight into how betting markets should behave with detailed on-pitch performance data analysis and research, SIS is ideally placed to identify suspicious matches and betting patterns. SIS offers sports governing bodies a free-to-use suspicious match monitoring platform and mobile application, KOMODO™, through which information on suspected match-fixing can be obtained. For more information, visit www.starlizardintegrity.com.

Contact details: Starlizard Integrity Services, +44 (0) 20 3014 9800, [email protected] 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/starlizard-integrity-services-identifies-79-suspicious-football-matches-played-globally-in-first-half-of-2024-302215951.html