International betting association finds fewer reports of suspicious betting in Q2 2021

In the second quarter of 2021, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 38 cases of suspicious betting to relevant authorities, representing a year-on-year, and quarterly decrease of around 41 per cent (Q2 2020: 65, Q1 2021: 64).

The sport most commonly covered by reports was football, which had 16 cases, followed by table tennis (nine), tennis (six), esports (six) and beach volleyball (one).

Cases were most commonly reported in Europe, which accounted for almost half of all reports, at 47 per cent, followed by Asia and South America, which both had 13 per cent.

Addressing the figures, Khalid Ali, CEO of the IABA, which is the leading international organisation advocating for integrity in the licensed betting industry, said: "The 39 cases in Q2 added to the 64 cases in Q1 bring the mid-year total to 102 alerts reported by the association.

"Football has provided the highest number of alerts during that period with 28, followed by tennis (24) and esports (23). These three sports comprise nearly 75 per cent of all alerts reported in the first half of 2021".

Breaking down some other key figures for the period, the IABA explained that five different sports were reported on in Q2. Additionally, the organisation reported the lowest number of alerts on tennis since it began producing quarterly reports in 2015 (six).

A total of 15 different countries had alerts reported in them, and the number of football reports increased by a third, to 16 compared to the year before.

Addressing the organisation's outlook, Mr Ali stated: "IBIA's expanding membership means that, as set out in the recently published Optimum Betting Market report, it now represents $137 billion in global regulated betting turnover per annum making it the largest customer-based integrity platform in the world with nearly 50 per cent of the commercial online market".