According to the Group of Copenhagen, which monitors the risks of sports match-fixing, seven so-called “yellow notices” were issued during the tournament, sportsshield.org reports.
Such notices are issued when unusual activity is detected in the betting market and serve as grounds for further investigation, but do not in and of themselves indicate that matches were fixed, the publication clarifies.
According to a summary of the report published by the Council of Europe, experts’ attention was drawn to certain referees’ decisions, the lifting of disciplinary sanctions, and unusual betting volumes on certain game events. The full report has not yet been published.
In particular, the report cites the case involving U.S. national team forward Folarin Balogun as one of the suspicious incidents. After the forward was sent off during the Round of 16 match on July 2 against Bosnia and Herzegovina (2–0), the Polymarket exchange opened a market with the question: “Will Balogun play against Belgium in the Round of 16?”
However, no similar markets were opened for the other 14 players sent off during the tournament, which raised questions among experts. The Copenhagen-based group sent an official request to FIFA demanding a written explanation regarding the “Balogun case.”
The report also included the incident involving the sending-off of South African Temba Zwane in the 84th minute of the match against Mexico (0–2), a lengthy VAR review (3.5 minutes), following which a goal by Spain’s Ferran Torres was disallowed in the match against Saudi Arabia (4–0), and the unusually high volume of bets placed on Spain not defeating tournament debutant Cape Verde (0–0).
FIFA found no evidence of manipulation
A few days before the publication of the European experts’ findings, FIFA reported that its Integrity Working Group, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and international partners, had monitored all 104 World Cup matches in real time.
Based on the results of this monitoring, the organization stated that it had not identified any suspicious activity in the betting market and had found no evidence of match-fixing.
Thus, the assessments of the Council of Europe and FIFA currently differ. European experts point to the need for further investigation into a number of incidents, while FIFA maintains that there are no grounds to suggest match-fixing.
