Measures Taken by FIFA and AIFF to Combat Match-Fixing

Sport is exciting, and the basic feature that makes any game thrilling is the zeal to win by all players. However, when a player's intention is not a victory by making a profit, it questions the premise of a given sport, lowering its mere transaction. The integrity of sports, particularly in India, now faces a more significant threat from match-fixing, which has threatened the economic role of sports.

Match-fixing on the rise 

While the appeal of match-fixing has existed for decades, it has recently become prominent, especially in the world of football. The threat of match-fixing in football constantly remains high in India due to its worldwide popularity and the high volume of matches being played every day. Another reason is the increased coverage of Indian betting markets on real money casino apps in India. Football is India's number one betting sport, accounting for more than half of the total turnover stake. 

Because of this, FIFA and AIFF have collaborated with other global entities to fight the battle against corruption in football. Here are some measures FIFA and AIFF have taken to combat match-fixing. 

AIFF's measures 

Ban of cellphones in dressing rooms

The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) has come up with new regulations that ban the use of cell phones and entry of club owners into dressing rooms. Until 2014, club owners enjoyed unrestricted entry to respective team dressing rooms, with top officials appearing before and during the break to boost the players' morale.

However, today only accredited officials are allowed entry to dressing rooms. AIFF also banned the use of cell phones by players in the dressing room, except the manager, for official purposes, as it seeks to implement the new anti-corruption measures to combat match-fixing. All players must surrender their mobile phones to the team manager before they enter the dressing room. The manager will be held accountable if a player is found flouting the rules.

FIFA's measures

Launch of FIFA global integrity program and officers' community platform

In collaboration with the United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), FIFA has launched a Global Integrity Programme. This is a comprehensive international program aimed to provide all 211 member associations with improved knowledge and tools to fight and prevent match-fixing.

The FIFA Global Integrity Program is designed to boost education and build integrity within all the member associations by sharing advanced resources and expertise with integrity officers. The program also speculates the UNODC's objective of supporting the states and sports organizations in their effort to protect sports from crime and corruption. The new program is regionally organized per confederation and involves a series of 3-module virtual workshops delivered to all FIFA member associations.

FIFA has also launched the FIFA Integrity Officers Community platform. This is the first community-driven digital platform focused solely on the work of integrity officers in member confederations and federations globally. The aim of the platform was to bring together a global network of integrity officers to share their experiences.

Motoring of the betting markets

Integrity task force stakeholders, including Sportradar, the FBI, Interpol, and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), monitor the betting markets and in-game wagering on every game. The task forces look for irregularities, including goals, yellow cards, and red cards.

A leading global sports technology firm, Sportradar, has partnered with most US sports leagues to monitor betting markets. The company also allows bookmakers to report suspicious betting activities in an effort to safeguard global sport.  

Sportradar uses a monitoring system to detect suspicious and abnormal betting patterns. The results are provided by sophisticated machine-learning algorithms, which collect real-time data from more than 600 global betting sites to detect match-fixing. It has also employed a team of 35 intelligence officers with a background in financial fraud, law enforcement, counterterrorism, and military defense. Establishing these task forces helped FIFA monitor both the in-game actions and betting markets in real-time in all Qatar world cup matches.

Challenges and limitations

Even with all the precautions taken by FIFA and AIFF, preventing match-fixing is still extremely difficult. Although match-fixing is old as the sport itself and has occurred in various sports and countries, maintaining the integrity of sports has increasingly become more complicated. Commercial agendas, ignorance, and professional conflicts of interest have propagated the anti-match-fixing industry.

In India, little has been done on the institutional level to monitor, prevent and sensitize stakeholders on the effects of corruption in sports. Fortunately, several authors have discussed how to implement prevention against the threat of match-fixing and formulated recommendations to combat it.