SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has launched an anti-match fixing initiative after revealing that more than £75 million has been wagered on Welsh Premier League (WPL) football matches.
The association’s Chief Executive Jonathan Ford expressed concern over match fixing and sports corruption entering the Wales top tier of football. Figures revealed that an average of more than £500,000 is being wagered on each WPL match.
“We need to be proactive, in order to ensure betting on Welsh football is well controlled.” Said Ford.
Ford commented that the WPL had requested UEFA for advice with regards to monitoring and policing match fixing. The WPL has employed independent integrity experts to consult on its initiative.
The FAW has further consulted betting and sports data experts Sportradar in order to help identify match fixing and suspicious betting behaviour
Referring to the allegations of match fixing made last season, Ford said: “In that particular case, there was an organisation [Federbet] which was not working with us or Uefa, which announced their concerns over a couple of matches.
“We’d already investigated those matches and, once we’d supplied that data, we were exonerated from any blame with regards to any match-fixing.”
