• 21.5% of suspicious matches took place in just one country
• 200% increase in suspicious matches played in the CONMEBOL region
• Near doubling of matches with irregularities in first-half-only betting markets

LONDON, Aug. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sports integrity specialists Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) has identified 79 football matches played globally between 1 January and 30 June 2024 as suspicious. New data from the company shows that more than one-fifth of these matches took place in just one country in the CONMEBOL (South American) region - a region which saw a worrying 200% increase in suspicious matches overall.

Every year, SIS looks at tens of thousands of football matches around the world in order to identify matches that show irregularities, indicative of suspected match-fixing, both in the betting markets and on the field of play. While the level of suspicion will vary, depending on the nature and amount of evidence discovered, SIS ensures that all the matches they identify as suspicious reach a high enough bar to warrant further investigation by the appropriate authorities.

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:

• 17 of the suspicious matches (21.5%) came from just one country in the CONMEBOL region, with six of the matches played in that country's top domestic tier and eleven in the second domestic tier.
• 33 suspicious matches (41.8%) took place in the CONMEBOL region, up from 11 in the same period last year. This represents 0.56% of all CONMEBOL region matches analysed during the first half of 2024.
• 23 different countries had at least one integrity alert in a domestic men's competition.
• 40 of the suspicious matches (50.6%) were the subject of suspicious betting patterns in the first-half-only betting markets - almost double the 21 matches similarly identified for the same period in 2023.
• 11 of the 79 suspicious matches (13.9%) had a HIGH suspicion rating allocated to them, with 39 matches (49.4%) assessed at a MEDIUM level of suspicion.
• 29 suspicious matches (36.7%) were played in the UEFA (European) region, down from 40 for the same period last year. The new figure represents 0.15% of all UEFA region matches analysed during this period.
• 49 suspicious matches (62%) were identified in domestic competitions below the top tier, whilst 19 matches (24.1%) were played in top-tier domestic competitions.
• Club friendly matches accounted for seven suspicious matches played in the first half of the year (9.1%), despite representing just 4% of the total number of games analysed.

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, integrity@starlizard.com 

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