BCCI signs up Sportradar to detect betting irregularities during IPL 2020

Edited PTI copy

The BCCI has roped in UK-based company Sportradar to detect betting irregularities during IPL 2020.

“As part of the agreement, all matches in IPL 2020 will be monitored by Sportradar’s Integrity Services to detect betting irregularities,” a statement released by the company on Thursday said. “Sportradar will also provide a risk assessment to the BCCI, driven by intelligence and data-driven insights. Furthermore the BCCI will be able to call upon Sportradar’s Intelligence and Investigation Services during the term of the partnership, if required.”

An IPL source, who confirmed the development to PTI, said: “Sportradar has very recently red flagged at least half a dozen games in the Goa football league that came under a fixing cloud. They have also worked with FIFA, UEFA and various leagues across the globe.”

The BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit has, in recent times, tracked unusual betting patterns during state T20 leagues, including the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), as a major betting company stopped taking bets after unusual bets were being placed.

According to Sportradar, its Fraud Detection System (FDS) “is a unique service that identifies betting-related manipulation in sport. This is possible due to the FDS’s sophisticated algorithms and constantly maintained database of odds, which are leveraged for the purpose of detecting match-fixing.”

It is believed that the company tracks the odds and movements of at least 600 independent bookmakers to detect anomalies in betting patterns. It processes around 5 million data sets per day.

How Sportradar’s fraud detection works

As part of Sportradar’s fraud detection, a mathematical algorithm is used to study betting patterns. It is a “sophisticated model”, which monitors live betting during an event.

“There are 25 live alerts, which instantly identify irregular betting in the marketplace,” The Sportradar website says. “The mathematical model uses calculated odds, which runs alongside bookmakers’ odds, in order to highlight if the odds during a specific minute or time is out of line, and therefore, potentially suspicious.”

There are also “44 detailed pre-match alerts, which are based on odds movements observed at betting operators”.

“An alert is generated in FDS when odds at a bookmaker changes greater than pre-defined parameters.”