Some of Britain’s biggest online sports continue to offer odds at Ukrainian table tennis tournaments, despite reports of “widespread” match-fixing.
Suspicions about the integrity of some Ukrainian table tennis tournaments were reported a year ago, when it was one of the few live sports to continue the pandemic, providing a rare opportunity for players and bookmakers.
The tournaments, which do not yet have a live audience and are streamed online, appear to be little more than vehicles: little online data about the competition is presented, the effects are difficult to determine and many competitions seem to be far below the point of view of professional athletes. .
The Ukrainian Table Tennis Federation (TTFU) announced this week that it is partnering with Sport Integrity Team, an Italian organization that fights against match fixing, to “ensure that all organizers, players, referees and officials involved in table tennis tournaments are the criteria to be met. “
Francesco Baranca, a representative of the Sport Integrity Team, called match fixing “widespread and very easy”, adding that the challenge had been around for years. “We started seeing movements 3 or 4 years ago,” he said.
Baranca said it had noticed “many more repairs” from the pandemic, while it was one of the few sports still featured through bookmakers. “During the Covid era and after the Covid era, after the general lockdown in March 2020, it was crazy,” Baranca said.
He said table tennis tournaments in Ukraine are less difficult to fix because “the point of the festival is so high, which is why the value of corruption is so incredible. “
Odds in Ukrainian tournaments like the Setka Cup and the TT Cup are still presented through games like Bet365 and MarathonBet.
Baranca added that the Ukrainian government “never denies that the challenge exists and that they are seeking to resolve it. “He believes the match-fixing point “will be minimized by 90% in six months” now that the government is actively taking down the challenge.
A Setka Cup spokesman said sports betting had “proven the value of its logo” and had “strict threat control needs and would not collaborate with tournaments of distrust. “Now, more than 7,500 Setka Cup matches are going to be held in a hundred sports betting. . This forces us to take on a great duty in each and every game.
“Athletes, judges and others involved in the tournaments will have to comply with internal policies and codes of conduct,” the spokesperson added. “If the organizers get the report of something suspended [sic], the popular internal investigation procedure begins. strategies and procedures. If the tournament organisers are more suspicious, they will offer the competition in question a polygraph check (a lie detector check), carried out through an independent polygraph examiner. they can lose their reputation and qualifications and even get a lifetime suspension by supporting match-fixing.
It’s still the reason gaming corporations continue to offer odds in markets that are full of match-fixing.
Suspicions of corruption within Ukrainian table tennis are not new. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Control asked all of its sports betting to suspend betting on Ukrainian table tennis last July, following warnings about imaginable match-fixing.
A spokesman for the British Gambling Commission said: “As we said earlier, all operators have a legal responsibility to ensure that the game is conducted fairly and openly. Consumers must have confidence and that when they place bets with UK authorised operators, they do so in fair and open markets. When we find evidence to the contrary, we will take action.
“If you have evidence that Licensed Operators of the Betting Commission knowingly offer offers on corrupt sporting events, please send us this data as soon as possible. “
Bet365 and MarathonBet returned any requests for comment.
I have been a generation and editor for over 20 years. I was assistant editor of the Sunday Times generation segment, editor of PC Pro mag and I
I have been a generation and editor for over 20 years. I’ve been deputy editor of the Generation segment of the Sunday Times, editor-in-chief of PC Pro mag and have written for over a dozen other publications and websites over the years. I have also given the impression of being a technical expert in television and radio, adding BBC Newsnight, Chris Evans Show and ITN News at Ten.
Feel free to contact me if you have a technical history to notice in barry@mediabc. co. uk.