Betting Firms Claim Match-Fixing Remains a Pressing Issue in Europe

Belgian betting provider Federbet highly concerned about match-fixing in European football, stressing that rigging is on the rise.

Many reports indicate that match-fixing in European football is still a serious concern. The number of matches that were suspected to be rigged ran high. Mobile betting firms believe that sporting regulatory authorities must find a way to fight the battle against match-fixing.

Brussels betting shop Federbet believes that a total of 110 football matches were rigged in the 2013-2014 season in Europe. Another 350 games are suspected to have been involved in the illegal practice.

The firm concludes that the overall number of games fixed amounts to 460, which is indicative of a 20 percent rise from the season before. The games were staged all across Europe; France, Italy, Greece, Britain and many nations from Eastern Europe.

Federbet representative highly concerned

Federbet’s general secretary, Francesco Baranca, addressed the European Parliament where he highlighted the gambling news and how the problem is only increasing from year to year. “Every day all around the world there is an attempt at match-fixing. And this virus is getting bigger and bigger.”

Baranca stressed the dangers from the progression of the match-fixing, from a small scale operation that can easily be transferred to the international stage. “It is not so impossible that when they have learned to fix the match during the domestic competition they are also going to fix the match in the international competition.”

He also added, “We can solve this problem in quite an easy way but nobody wants to solve it. Federations are not listening to us, UEFA is not listening to us.”