BBC – Football is never far away from its next scandal and allegations of match-fixing certainly dent the reputation of the beautiful game. But is it right to call the recent claims of wrongdoing “match-fixing”?
Sam Sodje, a former Portsmouth player, was filmed by an undercover reporter claiming he could arrange for footballers to be booked for a £30,000 fee and a sending-off for £50,000 to £70,000 in order to facilitate betting fraudsters. Six people have been arrested, including DJ Campbell, the Blackburn Rovers striker.
Emotive terms like “plague” and “cancer” have been used in the media and there have been calls for fixers to be banned for life, but why has no-one asked whether it is actually possible to make substantial amounts of money by betting on yellow and red cards?
The answer – and the awkward truth – is that it is impossible. No matter which expert is asked, they all say the same.
While there is a window of opportunity to make some financial gain on the goals-related market if a fixer has information about a red card being awarded, the world’s leading anti-corruption officer, Chris Eaton, claims it is the sort of “small-fry” wager that would not interest crime syndicates.
To explode the myth that massive amounts of money are being made by people betting on yellow and red cards, let’s examine in detail how the regulated bookmakers in the United Kingdom and the licensed and unlicensed Asian bookmakers operate.
In the UK, it is possible to bet on an individual player being cautioned during a match, but gamblers are restricted to small stakes for fear that such betting opportunities can be manipulated.
Every regulated bookmaker has software that will alert staff to a suspicious betting pattern.
