British regulator the Gambling Commission is investigating suspicious betting on several matches played in the sixth tier of the English Football League, the Football Conference South.
The Commission announced Friday that itself and the Football Association (FA) had become aware of suspicious betting activity around a number of matches played in the Conference South, also known as the Blue Square Bet South, and that its Sports Betting Integrity Unit was working alongside the FA’s Football Integrity Unit in “assessing the evidence.”
The Commission has requested that anyone with relevant information come forward and contact either the Gambling Commission or the FA.
The Birmingham-based gambling regulator also revealed that the FA is in the process of contacting all the clubs in the Football Conference South to remind their executives, players and officials of their responsibilities under the football governing body’s betting and integrity rules.
The Commission said it would be making no further comment at this stage.
The Gambling Commission’s rare public confirmation that an investigation is underway - it admitted in February 2012 that it had looked into 210 cases of suspected match-fixing across all sports in four years - follows a month after several high-profile incidents reignited widespread concerns over the prevalance of betting-related match fixing in world football.
Most notably, the European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol announced that an 18-month investigation found a Singapore-based crime syndicate had generated more than €8m in profits by allegedly fixing more than 380 matches across 15 European countries.
Europol claimed the syndicate had paid up to US$100,000 per match in bribes to fix outcomes, with one individual in Austria paid as much as £121,000. Profits were generated by betting with Asian bookmakers and websites. In Germany, payments of £1.73m were made to those involved through organised crime networks, with more than £13.8m wagered on the matches.
Article written by Stephen Carter
