Match-fixing in Asian football competitions down 34 per cent as AFC extends deal with integrity firm Sportradar
- The four-year deal will involve upgrading of the AFC’s integrity app that will also enable the reporting of doping, bullying and harassment
- Sportradar hopes its technology and expertise can help match fixing in Asia continue its downward trend
Match-fixing in Asian football’s domestic competitions has decreased by 34 per cent since 2016, with officials hoping for more collaboration with police and bookmakers to reduce the scourge to “as close to zero as possible”.
The Asian Football Confederation on Friday strengthened their ability to fight match-fixing in the region by extending their contract with Sportradar, a leading supplier of sports integrity solutions, for another four years.
“That is a significant decrease,” said Oscar Brodkin, Sportradar’s director of intelligence & investigation services. “When we first met AFC in 2013, it appeared to be that match-fixing was at an all-time high. Between 2009 and 2013 was the peak of match-fixing because you had scandals all over the world.
“I believe the numbers clearly show that things have decreased since 2016, which is obviously good for the AFC.”
The partnership, which started in 2013, has already resulted in a number of successful prosecutions. In 2019, four Central Asian players caught match-fixing in AFC competitions in 2017 and 2019 received life bans.