Match-fixers target Prem

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering football’s match-fixing problem, Arsenal banning fans and much more.

STATS

UEFA Super Cup Final: Real Madrid  2 - 0 Atalanta

_{Federico Valverde 59’, Kylian Mbappé 68’}

→ Kylian Mbappé has scored eight goals in his last 11 finals between club and country in all competitions, including six in the last five.

→ Luka Modrić is now the most decorated player in Real Madrid history with 27 trophies.

→ Real Madrid is now the team with the most UEFA Super Cup titles in history (6), followed by AC Milan (5) and Barcelona (5).

Plus…

• Carabao Cup results (More)

• Arsenal in talks to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino (More)

• Bruno Fernandes signs a new contract until summer 2027 (More)

• Manchester City forward Oscar Bobb faces a period on the sidelines after fracturing a bone in training (More)

• BBC and ITV announce they will share live coverage of Women’s Euro 2025 in the UK (More)

PREMIER LEAGUE

Five Premier League players targetted by match-fixers

Former player and whistleblower Moses Swaibu says at least five Premier League players have been approached by match-fixers, per The Telegraph.

Swaibu, who was jailed for bribery after an investigation into match-fixing in 2015, suggests that illegal betting syndicates are targetting top levels of English football. 

During his time educating young footballers about integrity risk, Swaibu claims that several players revealed they had been “approached by match-fixers outside [their] training ground” or at casinos in London. And, when he was involved in fixing “about five games”, he was aware of players who were sent “bullets” after a fix did not go ahead.

Football’s secret problem

A report by the International Betting Integrity Associaton (IBIA) says football and tennis accounted for over two-thirds of suspicious sporting incidents in the first quarter of this year.

But the likelihood of match-fixing is low at the very elite level as players are paid huge sums of money. That said, two years ago an Arsenal player - unnamed - was investigated for suspicious betting patterns around a Premier League yellow card. The case was ultimately dropped.

Still, this is rare. Where there is less money, players and even club executives are increasingly vulnerable to being corrupted by fixers:

• In 2023, 16 players in Brazil were charged for alleged match-fixing in 13 games, including eight in the top flight.

• In 2008, unusual betting patterns were reported for a match between Accrington Stanley and Bury. A Football Association investigation resulted in five players being charged with betting on a Bury win.

• Europol’s investigation in 2013 found that there were 380 matches in Europe alleged to be fixed, with only one taking place in England.

On the rise: Football remained the most sport affected by match-fixing in 2023 and instances rose compared to 2022, per Sportradar’s annual report.

And with detection companies using AI to track any suspicious activities, it’s going to be easier to weed out any bad actors - even at the lower level.

POLL

HEAD START

🛩️ No plans for overseas games. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters claims that an English top-flight match overseas has not been raised at a shareholders’ meeting since 2008. There is an ongoing case between Relevant Sports and FIFA, where a ruling could result in club teams worldwide being granted permission to play official league games abroad. Despite this, Masters downplays the possibility of a Premier League being played outside of home territory.

👕 Chelsea to enter season without shirt sponsor again. Chelsea are entering the 2024-25 season without a front-of-shirt sponsor for the second consecutive year, per The Athletic. Last year’s sponsor Infinite Athlete only signed up to a year-long contract and will not likely be the sponsor for the upcoming season. It is understood that the Blues will announce another short-term deal to carry them over for this season soon.

🎰 Reading’s head of football operations suspended for gambling breaches. Mark Bowen, 60, has admitted to an independent regulatory commission that he placed over 90 bets on football games unrelated to Reading between April 2022 and January 2024. He has been given a 12-week ban, eight of which are suspended until the 2025-26 season. He was also issued with a £7,000 fine.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal ban 24 fans from attending matches

Arsenal have banned 24 fans from attending matches for discriminatory or abusive behaviour.

Fourteen fans have been handed three-year bans from home and away games by the Premier League club, while the other 10 are banned for one year.

The north London side is working with data scientists to fight online abuse by unmasking offenders because:

• The club says there was a 24% increase in online abuse towards their players and coaches last season.

• But there was a 90% decline in online abuse among their members.

And it seems there’s now a zero-tolerance approach across the board. Last season the Metropolitan football policing unit claims to have secured 197 banning orders, the largest ever amount in a single season. 

A league-wide crackdown

Those banned by clubs aren’t just not allowed to enter that stadium. Premier League clubs voted in 2020 that if a fan is banned by one club, they will also be prohibited from attending the grounds of the other 19 clubs.

Clubs now share their data on banned fans and security officials have access to a database. Usually, names on match tickets are cross-referenced and stewards are given photographs.

Going forward: While live facial recognition isn’t the norm in the league, it was used by the Met Police for the first time last season at Arsenal vs Tottenham - and it led to the arrest of three fans. 

Some clubs have enquired about using facial recognition technology but have been warned against it due to “normalising a mass surveillance tool”.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga is set to miss up to seven weeks through injury after suffering a ligament sprain in his left knee (More)

🇮🇹 Serie A: Napoli have stepped up their efforts to sign Romelu Lukaku by offering Victor Osimhen to Chelsea as part of a proposed deal (More)

🇹🇷 Super Lig: Wilfred Zaha returns to Galatasaray training despite Leicester City working on a loan for the 31-year-old (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League: Bournemouth sign Mexico defender Julian Araujo from Barcelona in deal worth £8.5mn (More)

🇺🇸 MLS: Xherdan Shaqiri leaves Chicago Fire by mutual consent (More)

🇳🇱 Dutch national team: Daley Blind announced retirement from the Dutch national team after playing 108 times for Oranje (More)

OFF THE PITCH

🚕 Residents complain of honking from driverless cars parking at night (More)

💰 Mars plans to buy Pringles maker for more than €29bn (More)

🦫 The UK is in the midst of a full-blown beaver boom (More)

🧃 Coca-Cola and Oreo are teaming up to make a new limited-edition drink and cookie (More)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Inaugural Premier League. On this day in 1992, a new era dawned as the first Premier League season kicked off. Leeds United were the defending top-flight champions and Manchester United, who finished second the previous campaign, were on the receiving end of a landmark goal as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United on the opening day. Brian Deane scored the first Premier League goal with a header after five minutes. 

Despite losing the opening game, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side ended a 26-year wait for a top-flight crown and became the inaugural Premier League champions by a margin of 10 points.

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Do you think City's hearing will be resolved during this upcoming season?

Routers think that City’s hearing will not be resolved before the end of next season.

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🤝 Yes it will be resolved... (20.5%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅 Nope, the can will be kicked down the road... (79.5%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🙅 G Worth voted ‘Nope’: “This won't go away but punishing City has huge implications to the rest of the league including my own team (Leicester) so I expect the league will drag it out until the rules change to accommodate Man City.”

• 🙅 Cincy voted ‘Nope’: “Money and attorneys equal many years of litigation.”

• 🤝 Jim voted ‘Yes’: “The authorities need to resolve this case this season or they will be seen to have failed to properly regulate the game. Other clubs, albeit with simpler cases, have been dealt with in much less periods of time. The current perception that a big club can basically drag things out and effectively thumb their noses at the authorities needs to be dispelled. There is a credibility issue at stake here.”

EXTRA TIME

How many points are needed to win the Premier League title?

Roy Keane reacts to Mikel Arteta’s pickpocket exercise.

A match in Turkey was broadcasted from a phone camera on a paid channel.

Diego Maradona warming up in the tunnel ahead of Lothar Matthäus’ testimonial in 2000.

When Juniho Paulista was given a bike for winning Man of the Match.

The “best” dressed footballers.

It has been two years since Conte and Tuchel’s infamous handshake.

TalkSport questions the Premier League’s CEO.

Why PSR is “killing the spirit of football” according to Aston Villa’s director of football operations.

Podcast: Stick to Football Premier League season preview.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which team has come second in the Premier League era more often than any other?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

FOOTBALL

La Liga

• Athletic Club vs Getafe (18:00 BST)

• Real Betis vs Girona (20:30 BST)

Europa League - 3rd Qualifying Round

• Full fixture list here.

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Arsenal. The Gunners have been eight times runners-up.