FIFA remain under intense fire even after the World Cup, The Athletic reports among others. The Group of Copenhagen, an international advisory body linking national platforms in the fight against match-fixing in sport, have serious doubts about the integrity of the tournament and have therefore sought answers from world football's governing body.
Those doubts rest on seven concrete examples. The independent organisation monitored all 104 matches at the World Cup for possible irregularities in betting behaviour. Although the full report has not yet been made public, sources say several situations have been flagged as notable. They concern so-called 'yellow notices', signals that may point to unusual patterns.
Among the examples is the red card shown to Themba Zwane in South Africa's opening match against Mexico. The report also mentions a notable stake of 4.8 million dollars on Spain slipping up against Cape Verde, which ended 0-0. It also highlights a lengthy VAR intervention over a disallowed Ferran Torres goal against Saudi Arabia.
Most of the attention, though, centres on the situation involving Folarin Balogun. On the day of his red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, a betting market immediately appeared regarding his possible availability against Belgium. At that point, it was not yet known that his suspension would later be overturned, something only officially confirmed three days later. Remarkably, that did not happen with any other player who received a red card.
Now the Group of Copenhagen have asked FIFA for an official explanation of how events unfolded. That is causing friction because world football's governing body said earlier this week there had not been a single indication of suspicious betting activity during the tournament.
According to betting expert Christian Kalb, caution is needed when drawing conclusions. He says unusual betting patterns can also be explained by legitimate factors, such as bookmakers hedging risks. At the same time, he acknowledges that possible insider knowledge could pose a serious problem.
The enormous scale of the betting market makes the picture even more complex. An estimated 240 billion dollars was wagered during the World Cup, roughly double the previous edition. Meanwhile, new prediction markets are rapidly gaining ground, which experts say is creating fresh challenges for oversight and integrity in football.