FIFA is closing its match-fixing detection division, "deciding to outsource the work of discovering betting irregularities," according to the AP. The investigations that FIFA's Early Warning System "had been carrying out for a decade will now be run by data services company Sportradar." FIFA said Friday that Sportradar's Fraud Detection System will "identify and analyze any suspicious betting behavior or patterns." Sportradar intelligence experts "will also report to FIFA," which has yet to replace former Security Dir Ralf Mutschke, a former Interpol director who left in December "after being in charge of World Cup security and fighting match-fixing." Sportradar will "also provide an app for players and coaches to confidentially report concerns" about irregularities around games (AP, 2/3). The PA's Matt Slater reported former FIFA Head of Security Chris Eaton questioned the move to "outsource protection against match-fixing to a private company." Now a "freelance sports integrity expert," Eaton spent two years at FIFA, from '10-12, "targeting gangs who had infiltrated football to manipulate betting markets." He said, "Sportradar has its roots and purpose in the sport-betting data business. Fundamentally, betting monitoring for sport bodies is a money-making business. It is not, and will never be, a complete solution to match-fixing. It is a forensic tool to help wider investigation and intelligence." Eaton said that any sports body "relying exclusively on a profit-motivated body" to analyze potential match-fixing would be "either foolish or window-dressing integrity." Another leading match-fixing expert, "who wished to remain anonymous," said, "Meaningful action against match-fixers only works if you have a truly independent body doing it, without commercial interests" (PA, 2/4).
