IBIA suspicious betting alerts rise year-on-year to 63 in Q1
Football Continues to Dominate Suspicious Betting Alerts in Q1 2025, Reports IBIA
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has unveiled its latest report, highlighting a total of 63 suspicious betting alerts during the first quarter of 2025. Unsurprisingly, football emerged as the primary focus, accounting for the most significant share of these alerts.
Notably, this represents an 11% increase from the revised figure of 57 alerts recorded in the same quarter last year. However, it is slightly lower than the 65 alerts flagged during Q4 2024, indicating a fluctuating landscape in betting integrity monitoring.
With 31 alerts reported, football is clearly the sport of greatest concern, constituting 49% of all alerts for the period. This trend reflects a continuation of last year’s findings, where football dominated not only Q1 but the entirety of 2024 as well.
In a tie for second place, tennis, table tennis, and basketball each garnered nine alerts. Additionally, four alerts arose from esports betting, along with a single alert pertaining to horse racing.
Geographical Distribution of Alerts
Geographically, North America led the way with 17 alerts. Among these, nine were linked to football betting in Mexico, while six pertained to basketball betting in the United States. Two additional alerts were related to football betting activities in Jamaica.
Europe reported 15 alerts, with table tennis accounting for nine of these. Notably, seven alerts emerged from table tennis betting in the Czech Republic, and two from Germany, while other alerts spanned basketball, football, and horse racing across various countries.
South America also made a significant showing with 11 alerts, predominantly attributed to nine football betting alerts in Brazil, tying with Mexico for the highest number of alerts from a single country. Ecuador and Argentina reported single alerts pertaining to football and tennis, respectively.
Africa reported a total of six alerts, all related to football, with the Ivory Coast leading at three alerts, followed by one each from Algeria, Burundi, and Tunisia.
Interestingly, no alerts were recorded in Australasia; however, the IBIA did identify four global alerts related to esports. Due to the nature of the events, these alerts could not be assigned to specific countries, complicating the integrity monitoring landscape.
A Positive Shift: Decrease in Tennis Alerts
Commenting on the findings, IBIA CEO Khalid Ali noted that the number of alerts remained relatively stable in Q1. He expressed optimism regarding the decline in tennis alerts but voiced concerns about the integrity of table tennis betting.
“The reduction in tennis alerts is indeed welcome and reflects a positive trend over recent years,” Ali remarked. “However, the spike in table tennis alerts observed in Q4 2024 did not carry over into Q1 2025, returning to prior levels.”
Ali further emphasized that the IBIA has implemented enhanced precautions concerning table tennis betting. “In Q1, we established new integrity partnerships and protocols aimed at detecting and sanctioning corrupt betting activities,” he added.
The IBIA collaborates with over 80 companies across more than 140 betting brands globally, representing 50% of all regulated commercial online betting activities and 30% of the total regulated online betting landscape, including both retail and online channels. This extensive network enhances the organization’s capabilities to monitor and mitigate suspicious activities effectively.
