Stats Perform to Help Spain’s LaLiga, Police Target Match-Fixing in Sports

Posted on: April 4, 2022, 06:05h. 

Last updated on: August 12, 2022, 10:06h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

Many developed countries are stepping up the fight against match-fixing in sports. Spain is among them, and is now taking additional measures with the help of Stats Perform.

FC Barcelona's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
FC Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a recent match against Sevilla. Authorities and gaming regulators are going to begin addressing soccer match-fixing more diligently. (Image: Toronto Star)

As the stage is being set for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Spain is reeling from several match-fixing scandals in tennis and soccer. As a result, it is stepping up its game and calling in some big guns to help.

Operation Oikos, developed in May 2019, was a real mess in the world of Spanish professional soccer. Match-fixing had reached the top tier of the country’s favorite sports pastime, bringing embarrassment to the industry.

The case is still open in a court in Huesca almost three years later. Prosecutors, regulators, and the government are trying to overcome the difficulties involved in the ramifications abroad, encrypted telephone messages, and the imperceptible trace left by the transfer of illicit money.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced that from May 4 to 5, 30 agents of the National Police will receive training dedicated to the new forms of match-fixing in sports betting. Stats Perform, the global sports technology firm, is helping put together data and educational material for the program.

Spain Increases Anti-Match-Fixing Ops

In addition, JDigital, as a representative of the online gambling sector, will participate in the session. Members of the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ, for its Spanish acronym) will.

For his part, Iñaki Arbea, a police officer on leave to LaLiga as its head of integrity, emphasizes that the final periods of the championships imply an increased risk that soccer players lend themselves to fraud. This is mainly because many teams are no longer in competition.

Cryptocurrencies Come Under Fire

Among the topics will be cryptocurrencies, which are allegedly one of the new forms of corruption in sports betting. Arbea is helping to spearhead the initiative. He will discuss cryptocurrencies and the proliferation of unregulated gambling platforms on the Internet.

In this regard, Jorge Hinojosa, general director of JDigital, reiterates that neither sports organizations nor operators support illegal practices. He also emphasizes the need to work on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

In 2015, Arbea participated in investigating another match-fixing case that took illegal bonuses in Spanish soccer. That was the first time match-fixing made an appearance in a Spanish court of law.

Cryptocurrencies have become a simple instrument for laundering the proceeds of illegal bets, because they make it difficult to follow the trail of money,” states Iñaki Arbea.

The DGOJ ensures gaming operations’ integrity, security, reliability, and transparency. It operates the Global Betting Market Research Service (Sigma, for its Spanish acronym). This entity is in charge of collaborating with the Security Forces and others to prevent and detect match-fixing.

Last year, Sigma carried out 440 actions, of which 146 were related to the integrity of sports competitions. Of these, 88 had to do with soccer; table tennis had 23, and tennis saw 13. These three sports regularly account for around 89% of the match-fixing violations.