Fears of match-fixing "lurk in the background at the Asian Cup as the stain of corruption proves hard to shift despite efforts to clean up the sport," according to the AAP. While public attention will focus on the "big matches in Australia, games between smaller teams will also be under scrutiny for potential manipulation by illicit betting rings." Swiss-based Sportradar, which has a partnership with the Asian Football Confederation, will monitor for "unusual betting patterns once the tournament starts on Friday, when hosts Australia play Kuwait in Melbourne." While the overall risk of match-fixing at the tournament is "considered low, smaller teams with lower-paid players are considered more vulnerable to match-fixers." Betting industry expert Scott Ferguson said, "Any time you have meaningless matches, pool games where the result
means nothing, or teams where the players are poorly rewarded ... there
is a risk." Ferguson, a former head of education at bookmaker Betfair who runs
the Sport is Made for Betting website, said that "the risk of match-fixing at
the Asian Cup was 'fairly low' given the event's high profile and
anti-corruption efforts in Australia" (AAP, 1/8).
