FIFA Join Forces With Sportradar to Fight Corruption in Football

Sports and betting-related services company Sportradar has further bolstered its portfolio of partners by agreeing a deal with world football’s governing body, Fifa.

The agreement announced today (Friday) will see Sportradar Integrity Services provide Fifa with a full suite of monitoring, education and intelligence services. The Associated Press news agency said the agreement will lead to the closure of Fifa’s in-house Early Warning System platform, which has been in operation for over a decade.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Sportradar will use its Fraud Detection System to identify and analyse any suspicious betting behaviour or patterns across a number of international and domestic competitions around the world.

Fifa will work closely with football’s six continental confederations - Concacaf, Conmebol, CAF, Uefa, the AFC and the OFC - to ensure that any findings are provided to the appropriate organisations, and to support any relevant follow-up action or disciplinary proceedings.

The monitoring activities will cover various Fifa tournaments, including the World Cup and its qualifiers, the Confederations Cup, the Olympic football tournaments and all of its youth competitions, as well as a wide range of national leagues and all confederation-run competitions. In addition to monitoring and detection services, Fifa will be able to call on Sportradar’s in-house intelligence and investigation experts.

Sportradar will also deliver a full range of fraud prevention services and provide a programme of educational workshops and e-learning solutions, as well as a bespoke app for players, coaches and staff dedicated to football integrity. The app will allow them to confidentially and anonymously report any concerns.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “Preserving the integrity of the game is paramount to Fifa. Given that match manipulation is still a serious concern for everyone who loves the game, Fifa will work with Sportradar, the global leader in match manipulation detection and prevention, to invigorate and enhance our integrity programme. Fifa is committed to tackling match manipulation and protecting the integrity of football for players and fans.”

The Fifa deal comes after the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) took another step in its ongoing reform effort by entering into a partnership with Sportradar last month.

Sportradar chief executive Carsten Koerl said: “We have worked hard to earn the trust of a whole range of stakeholders across sport and of course football, and now we have the chance to join up all that work, expertise and insight and to provide the game with such a high level of monitoring and collaboration.”