{"id":5625,"date":"2020-11-04T15:25:39","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T15:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/?page_id=5625"},"modified":"2021-09-16T14:41:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T14:41:56","slug":"sports-with-the-most-match-fixing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/articles\/sports-with-the-most-match-fixing\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports With The Most Match Fixing and Suspicious Betting Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"
Despite being in the 21st<\/sup> century, you may be surprised to know that match fixing is something that still goes on. It may not be as prevalent as it once was, but there are various circumstances where it has become common knowledge that match fixing has taken place, and this hasn\u2019t been so long ago, either. We thought it would be interesting to find out which sports feature the most instances of match fixing. Furthermore, what are some of the biggest match fixing scandals ever in history?<\/p>\n And why do people agree to be a part of match fixing? What exactly do they get out of it and why has it risen to such prominence in its own right? Let\u2019s take a look at the different sports with the most match fixing taking place.<\/p>\n In organised sports, match fixing occurs when an event is played to a complete or partially pre-determined result. This violates the rules of the game itself and will frequently break the law at the same time. The most common reason for this taking place is so as to obtain a pay-off from gamblers, although teams may also routinely perform poorly in order to gain a future advantage in their respective sport.<\/p>\n Of course, if match fixing is taking place due to gambling circumstances, then it requires contacts between gamblers, players, team officials and\/or umpires as well. Of course, there are occasions where these contacts can be traced and that leads to persecution in one way or another as a result. On the other hand, losing on purpose for future advantage is something that is very internal to the team, and this is exceptionally hard for anyone to prove.<\/p>\n Other names for match fixing include game fixing, race fixing, race manipulation, sports fixing or hippodroming. According to the company Sportradar, which monitors the integrity of sports events on behalf of sports federations, as many as 1% of the matches that they keep an eye on show suspicious betting patterns<\/strong>. This, it says, could be indicative of match fixing taking place.<\/p>\n The major motivations behind match fixing are gambling and future team advantage. However, it has also been linked with corruption, violence and, in some cases, tax avoidance. It\u2019s not uncommon for the mafia in Eastern Europe to have links to illegal gambling and score fixing. According to some sources, there are people in Russia who have disappeared or lost their lives after acting out against bribes in sports sectors.<\/p>\n The easier it is, the more likely it will happen. Therefore, match fixing is more likely to occur in single player sports, rather than in team sports. This means that you need to really look at sports like tennis or darts for example, where single participants compete for themselves. This is because it\u2019s easier to convince a single player to participate in match fixing than it is to convince an entire team of players to do so.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why options like tennis and snooker etc. are a lot more tainted by match fixing than something like football or basketball. Not that it doesn\u2019t happen in those sports as well, but it is a lot more common in the single player sporting events. Have there been any significant match fixing scandals that have come out in the past? Well, actually, quite a few have been brought to the surface, and people have been found guilty of conspiring in this area, too.<\/p>\n The issue of match fixing in tennis actually remains as an ongoing problem, with reports from 2019 and 2020 suggesting that it has been taking place. Reports of this occurring in 2007 led to the Tennis Integrity Unit being created in 2008, and in 2011, organisers of the Wimbledon tournament were provided wit a list of people suspected to be involved in match fixing. Only recently, the BBC suggested that tennis is riddled with corruption with regard to match fixing, following Egyptian player Youssef Hossam being found guilty<\/a> of such.<\/p>\n That\u2019s just one of the occasions where match fixing has been discovered in tennis events. In 2018, Hossam\u2019s older brother Karim was banned for life from professional tennis for being involved in match fixing. That same year, Argentinian tennis player Nicol\u00e1s Kicker was also banned from the sport for at least three years for conspiring in match fixing. The investigation into the situation by the Tennis Integrity Unit found that Kicker knowingly participated in at least two fixed matches in 2015.<\/p>\n Other circumstances of this occurring in the world of tennis include French player Arnaud Cl\u00e9ment claiming that he was offered a bribe to fix a match in 2007, which he reportedly turned down. The following year, Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko was cleared of allegations that he fixed a match against Argentinian opponent Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland, despite the fact that later on, Davydenko was found to have exchanged 82 text messages with the suspected head of an Italian sports betting syndicate.<\/p>\n Brazilian tennis player Diego Matos received his own lifetime ban from tennis in September of 2019, when it was discovered that he also participated in match fixing that year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The snooker world has outrightly been plagued by allegations of corruption, and that has been the case ever since it began operating as a professional sport. Even retired professional player and BBC commentator Willie Thorne commented that match fixing has been around in snooker for a long time. He even conceded that some of the results in his own games had been fixed. However, according to some reports, players don\u2019t always enter into match fixing of their own volition. Sometimes, they\u2019re coerced into fixing those results through threats of violence.<\/p>\n Thai players have apparently been targeted ruthlessly by cartels. James Wattana once reported receiving a death threat unless he lost one of his upcoming matches. Meanwhile, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon was the victim of a firebomb attack at his home in Rotherham when the governing body opened an investigation into him and a fellow Thai player Passakorn Suwannawat. Match fixing is heavily difficult to prove in snooker though, with only four arrests being made in the game\u2019s history relating to such. No criminal prosecutions have occurred, though.<\/p>\n The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) have proceeded with prosecutions successfully though, with players Stephen Lee, Leo Fernandez, Yu Delu, Cao Yupeng, David John and John Sutton being on the receiving end of such. Four other players have also served bans in relation to match fixing accusations \u2013 Quinten Hann, John Higgins, Joe Jogia and Jamie Jones.<\/p>\n In the case of Chinese player Yu Delu, he was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.2.1 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations, as it was discovered that he had accepted payment to fix the outcome of a match. Yu admitted to those breaches, and he was sentenced to a twelve-year ban as well as having to pay costs of \u00a320,823.80.<\/p>\nWhat Is Match Fixing?<\/h2>\n
Which Sports Are More Likely to See Results Fixed?<\/h2>\n
Tennis Scandals<\/h3>\n
Snooker Scandals<\/h3>\n