Expert Claims Soccer Match-Fixing is ‘Increasing’

February 14, 2011

According to Sportradar chief executive and expert witness at a soccer match-fixing tribunal in Bochum, see Germany, generic Carsten Koerl, 24 European countries have been affected by match-fixing and up to 100 games have been manipulated in the past five months alone.

Koerl, whose company tracks betting patterns and works with FIFA and UEFA, claimed that the issue of match-fixing within soccer was definitely on the rise, stating: “Manipulations are increasing.”

He added: “In the past five months, we assume that between 70 and 100 games in Europe were manipulated.”

Despite this, he clarified that given the tens of thousands of games being played each year, the number of affected matches represented only a very small percentage, continuing: “There is a clear development in this [betting activity] given that nowadays there are many more possibilities to earn money from this.”

Although Koerl did not say which countries were involved or what leagues were affected, four suspects are on trial after a 2009 German police operation unearthed a European match-fixing ring which fixed or tried to fix about 200 matches across the continent, including three in the Champions League.