Rigging in sports:My Personal Perspective and discussion finding sus. sports

[vennali]

Match fixing is a serious problem in both sports and esports. It happens when players or teams deliberately lose games for financial or other incentives. Generally, it is a financial incentive of either betting on the opponent or taking money to lose the game for some 3rd parties benefit. This is completely against the rules and bludgeons the integrity of the sport and the entities involved. Not to be confused with cheating in the sport to get a competitive advantage, which is whole another subsection of events that also impact the outcome of the sport and is completely against the rules and integrity of the sport.
I will share some of the famous examples of match fixing below.

Football: The Calciopoli scandal of 2006:
In 2006, a few Italian football teams including the club executives along with the referees were rigging the games and outcomes of the games in Serie A and B. The scandal came to light when conversations via phone(phone tapping), between some of the parties involved came to the media's attention. The Scandal involved one of the most successful club in Italy, Juventus and other major teams such as Inter and AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio. All the teams faced point deductions and Juventus were relegated to 2nd division as punishment.

Hansie Cronje and the 1999 Cricket World Cup :
The South African Cricket team captain, Hansie Cronje came under heavy scrutiny after his conversation with Sanjeev Chawla(representative of Indian betting syndicate) came to light about fixing some parts of the games to attain certain results as well as providing insider information.A few players from the South African team, including their star batsman Herschelle Gibbs were implicated of fixing games. Cronje died in a plane crash after the verdict, which he had appealed. There are some conspiracy theories that the betting syndicate might be involved in killing Cronje off to not further expose the betting syndicate and match fixing operations.
Even though there weren't any major instances where the whole team is involved, there were a few high-profile scandals including some Pakistani and Indian players being involved in fixing games. Since the betting syndicates have thrived through the 90s and up until now, I'm fairly certain there are still some elements (mostly nuanced) that are being fixed in the game.

The one of the few NBA refs that got caught, Tim Donaghy:
in 2007, NBA ref Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty of betting on the games he was officiating and providing insider information and tips to other gamblers on what the potential outcome of the games or instances would be. Donaghy pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined heavily. The FBI had to get involved but they couldn't conclusively prove that Tim Donaghy was fixing games however.
There have been many times when the refs have seemed heavily biased in crucial situations in important games. One being during 2002 Western Conference Finals when the fans and analysts accused the referees of favouring the LA Lakers of the Sacramento Kings in game 6. There's speculation that the NBA wanted to extend the series to 7 games to be more profitable and give another chance to a far more popular franchise to get another shot to get to the NBA Finals.

Re-occuring Tanking  and suspicious results at Tennis games at various levels in the Sport
There have been reoccurring reports of tennis being riddled with corruption as well as fixing matches occurring at various levels of the sport. However, there hasn't been any noteworthy high profile player that has been caught doing so. Usually, it is at the lower level, where players earn next to nothing, that they have to look through nefarious means of making income and get involved with betting syndicates. There have been many a times , even at high levels of the sport where players tank games just to get out of their matches, while in losing position and not attempt to give their best to try to win. They are punished from time to time but it still raises questions on the integrity of the sport.

eSports scandals
Counter-Strike match fixing scandal of 2014 : Eight players of the North American team iBUYPOWER fixed their game and evidently threw their game hard against the opponents who needed 1 win to stay in the competition. Later it was also revealed that a few players had bet on their own match loss using alternate accounts, by betting in game currency as well as skins. Most of the players were banned to ever play competitive counterstrike again, while some were repealed and were later allowed to do so.
StarCraft II match fixing scandal :
in South Korea in the year of 2010, a scandal broke out that a few top players were intentionally losing their matches. Since professional gaming had legal status in South Korea, a thorough investigation was done on it and 11 players were caught fixing games. A few of them even went to prison for their offence which included the greatest ever StarCraft player in the world, Life.

There are a lot more scandals that are worthy of covering but these are the top ones that come to my head at the moment. I will update more as I get educated on this topic.


I created the thread to raise awareness that match fixing in almost every sport does exist and everyone should be careful while betting on games. It is never a good idea to go all in on a specific game, expecting the team to win by looking at the statistics and past results. You just never know what exactly is going on behind the scenes.
That being said, there have been new genres of eSports and regular sports that have become fairly mainstream and have found their way into popular sportsbooks. I will be listing them along with images of the sports that are very very questionable, to say the least, and a gullible gambler might fall into the trap of betting on them. I will list them in the following post.

Stay aware, stay safe. Good Luck and have fun.

[1715103865]

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[1715103865]

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[vennali]

Reserved

Let me know of the sports or games on popular sportsbooks and casinos that you believe are rigged.

[wheelz1200]

Reserved

Let me know of the sports or games on popular sportsbooks and casinos that you believe are rigged.

Not that it's exclusive to lower leagues but I tend to stay away from sports that ypu can bet on and the players themselves don't make good money.  Take college sports in the US, there has been plenty of scams there.  These kids don't make any money and are generally broke in the terms of how much money could sway them.  If it doesn't take a lot of cash to buy a player than I won't really bet on the sport all too much.  I stick to the major popular sports.

[vennali]

Not that it's exclusive to lower leagues but I tend to stay away from sports that ypu can bet on and the players themselves don't make good money.  Take college sports in the US, there has been plenty of scams there.  These kids don't make any money and are generally broke in the terms of how much money could sway them.  If it doesn't take a lot of cash to buy a player than I won't really bet on the sport all too much.  I stick to the major popular sports.

That is surely what I'd consider a "good practice". With technological advancements, a person doesn't even need to specialise in web development and management skills to make a new tournament look legitimate from a distance. I see so many lower league tournaments popping up with international exposure that they get included on unsuspecting sportsbooks(or are they accomplices?). So many regional level Football, Cricket, Table tennis, eSports have popped up and are not vetted by anyone but are still available to be gambled upon across the globe. Thanks to sportsbooks with a keen interest in expanding their sportsbooks and spoiling their users for choices at any given time.

[Natsuu]

Not that it's exclusive to lower leagues but I tend to stay away from sports that ypu can bet on and the players themselves don't make good money.  Take college sports in the US, there has been plenty of scams there.  These kids don't make any money and are generally broke in the terms of how much money could sway them.  If it doesn't take a lot of cash to buy a player than I won't really bet on the sport all too much.  I stick to the major popular sports.

That is surely what I'd consider a "good practice". With technological advancements, a person doesn't even need to specialise in web development and management skills to make a new tournament look legitimate from a distance. I see so many lower league tournaments popping up with international exposure that they get included on unsuspecting sportsbooks(or are they accomplices?). So many regional level Football, Cricket, Table tennis, eSports have popped up and are not vetted by anyone but are still available to be gambled upon across the globe. Thanks to sportsbooks with a keen interest in expanding their sportsbooks and spoiling their users for choices at any given time.

Simply put, lower leagues and college sports can have financially strapped players who might be more easily influenced. Betting on such sports raises ethical concerns. Unsanctioned tournaments, sometimes included by sportsbooks for variety, can lack proper scrutiny. Sticking to well-known sports with strict oversightmay  help avoid potential issues tied to less-regulated events?

[blckhawk]

If we're talking about eSports too then you should've never forgotten about the infamous 322 scandal done by Solo, it's probably the most stupid that he's done because he's a really good player and a captain for some of the eSports team so the people notices it when there's something wrong with what he's doing and this end ups with an investigation that leads it to a betting site where he won around 322 USD for betting against his team, that's also became the term from then on for suspicious plays by other players. It's not really that strange that rigging in sports happens because it almost always, someone rich is betting on some team and that rich someone wants to make sure that they're not going to lose that much money and so they end up having some of their connections try to rig the game, basically the reason for rigging in sports is almost always greed, there's no way that someone wants to do that for the glory, it's almost always the money.

[vennali]

Simply put, lower leagues and college sports can have financially strapped players who might be more easily influenced. Betting on such sports raises ethical concerns. Unsanctioned tournaments, sometimes included by sportsbooks for variety, can lack proper scrutiny. Sticking to well-known sports with strict oversightmay  help avoid potential issues tied to less-regulated events?

That is true as there isn't any regulation for some of the sports tournaments that are put on sportsbooks or any repercussions even if they blatantly cheat in the games. Which makes it very very easy for them to carry on doing it as long as financial incentives are presented to them. I will be adding live examples from sportsbooks that we use and are big names in our community. It will be almost impossible to pin point how they are fixing the games though. So, there'll always be room for speculation regarding the games. Which we can openly discuss here.

If we're talking about eSports too then you should've never forgotten about the infamous 322 scandal done by Solo, it's probably the most stupid that he's done because he's a really good player and a captain for some of the eSports team so the people notices it when there's something wrong with what he's doing and this end ups with an investigation that leads it to a betting site where he won around 322 USD for betting against his team, that's also became the term from then on for suspicious plays by other players. It's not really that strange that rigging in sports happens because it almost always, someone rich is betting on some team and that rich someone wants to make sure that they're not going to lose that much money and so they end up having some of their connections try to rig the game, basically the reason for rigging in sports is almost always greed, there's no way that someone wants to do that for the glory, it's almost always the money.

Oh yes! I am an avid Dota2 enjoyed and I play it myself from time to time. Solo had bet $100 against his own team and had won $322 from the bet. I still think there's a lot of 322 moments in dota. Especially a lot of tier 2 and lower tournaments in China.
Regarding rigging, of course money is one of the biggest motivators for trying to do something unethical like fixing games. However, you missed out on the possibility of fixing games by paying the opponents to lose is also a possibility and has happened in the past as well. I remember few legendary Indonesian Badminton players were asked to throw their games in Olympics finals to lose against their Chinese counterparts, where they were promised Cash incentives and luxury houses in exchange for tanking their games.

[Z390]

Whatever hideous manipulation that might be happening in sports they don't do it all the time, it's very possible and not impossible, but It has never happened right in my front before, but let's accept that it does happen, how will this affect a gambler that's very responsible?

Assuming I risk $10 on a match that's been rigged and I don't know, the answer will still be a win or loss, and if this ten dollar is all I can afford to lose it won't affect me, it will just be like the same everyday of a gamblers life, we lose money and we move on.
Don't care too much if some sports matches or games are been rigged, it will only affect you if you risk way too much money on it, and it's when you lose is when you will want to fight for your right that the game was rigged, if the rigging made you win, will you come out and scream that you are been cheated? Exactly, risk only what you can, always.

[Heartilly]

I created the thread to raise awareness that match fixing in almost every sport does exist and everyone should be careful while betting on games. It is never a good idea to go all in on a specific game, expecting the team to win by looking at the statistics and past results. You just never know what exactly is going on behind the scenes.

I think this is too much overreacting. Yes, I don't rule out the idea that even in big leagues, game fixing does happen but do you think big leagues will ruin their reputation over game fixing? It can't just be done by a few guys. Besides, their careers are at stake if those players and officials participate in match-fixing. Not worth trying the risks.

The best advice would be, don't patronize betting on small leagues where game fixing mostly happens.

Going all in is not a good idea, not because of game fixing but rather because it will kill your bankroll instantly. \

[cabron]

Some scandals are exposed in boxing sport. Just yesterday Ryan Garcia said that when Oscar de La Hoya fought against Floyd Mayweather, Oscar tried to sabotage the fight by making Floyd wear the gloves for heavyweight fighters.

https://youtu.be/JEi8WPq3Akw?t=2377
I could have been a fixed fight which de la Hoya messed up. Oscar must have wagered a huge amount and tried to win dirty. I could be wrong but that is just the impression I see.

In this interview though, I think Ryan doesn't read between the lines to what the host is asking. He is a mess but he is young and rich.

[agustina2]

I'm not truly a fan of believing that rigging in sports does happen a lot, especially to the "LEAGUES"  today that most people are following.

As a sports bettor for a long, at least you know where should you place a bet that is likely not a messed up match.

Besides, rigged or not, we as a bettor that don't have inside stuffs will still rely on odds given by the bookies if that's worth placing a bet.

[danherbias07]

I'm not truly a fan of believing that rigging in sports does happen a lot, especially to the "LEAGUES"  today that most people are following.

As a sports bettor for a long, at least you know where should you place a bet that is likely not a messed up match.

Besides, rigged or not, we as a bettor that don't have inside stuffs will still rely on odds given by the bookies if that's worth placing a bet.

Yeah, me too. Especially in professional leagues. It would mean their career which is being paid either in hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions. I doubt they want that to happen.
I do believe it can happen in small leagues, but most of them are not entered in online sports bookies so there's nothing to worry about.
Then, Esports. There's a chance they can let the game lose and it won't be that hard to do that. Just saying you are having a bad day can fix it. It's not like it's like physical sports where if a player says he is having a bad day then they could just cancel a fight, bench him for team sports, or post him with an injury.
I am not a big follower of Esports but as a gamer before there's always a chance to trick the viewers like you are not in the right condition to play the game.
And I doubt they are tracing those friends or relatives of the one playing the game because they will spend a lot of money funding that project and I don't think they have enough resources to do that. So, there's a chance that players have someone outside that will bet and all they have to do is sell it to the audience that he is doing his best although they are losing.
I think it's better today than before because many people are watching and they cannot just make mistakes because it will probably be investigated by anyone and then make a trend on social media. I doubt someone would like to be on that position.

[Rruchi man]

how will this affect a gambler that's very responsible?

Although wins and losses in gambling are normal things that happen to every gambler, you will be concerned as a gambler and it will bother you if a certain sportbooks you play on or league you see as attractive has been flagged as having cases of of fraud in sports like match fixing and other forms of rigging.
You will be bothered because you know that winning has no longer been left to the future to decide, and chances of you winning is no longer fair when you are just predicting and making choices based on mere analysis.

[vennali]

~Snip~
Assuming I risk $10 on a match that's been rigged and I don't know, the answer will still be a win or loss, and if this ten dollar is all I can afford to lose it won't affect me, it will just be like the same everyday of a gamblers life, we lose money and we move on

I'd equate it to a rigged coin toss or a dice game that's not provably fair(oh there used to be a ton of those when crypto gambling began). I know some people would still be tempted to gamble on it, win or lose. I am just doing my part to make them understand that you've got to be careful when you put your hard-earned money into some dodgy sport. The OP was provided as an example but the motive is to educate people about the dodgy sports that are going on mainstream sportsbooks these days. I'll provide examples of those soon along with pictures.

As a sports bettor for a long, at least you know where should you place a bet that is likely not a messed up match.

Besides, rigged or not, we as a bettor that don't have inside stuffs will still rely on odds given by the bookies if that's worth placing a bet.

Since you mentioned that you have been sports betting for long, I'm sure you do your fair share of research trying to win your bets. My post was inspired by another thread here, where some unsuspecting bettor had bet on some sport that doesn't even exist. Which got me thinking about all the dodgy leagues that exist solely for betting purposes and are sponsored by bookmakers which direct the players on what course of actions to take in such a way that the bookmaker makes the most profit out of it. In that process, some people will win their bets but most will lose. My OP is just a caution into the wind that rigging could happen even in mainstream sports. So, you gotta be extra cautious if possible and not make significant bets on events that could be potentially rigged.

Some scandals are exposed in boxing sport. Just yesterday Ryan Garcia said that when Oscar de La Hoya fought against Floyd Mayweather, Oscar tried to sabotage the fight by making Floyd wear the gloves for heavyweight fighters.

https://youtu.be/JEi8WPq3Akw?t=2377
I could have been a fixed fight which de la Hoya messed up. Oscar must have wagered a huge amount and tried to win dirty. I could be wrong but that is just the impression I see.

In this interview though, I think Ryan doesn't read between the lines to what the host is asking. He is a mess but he is young and rich.

Boxing has seen some very very dodgy calls and officiating throughout history. A lot of match fixing and cheating has taken place in the past and its possible that it is still ongoing on smaller cards. The one that makes me sad was of this slimy coach who always found a way to cheat and get his fighter to win. The coach was Panama Lewis and his fighter Luis Resto was fighting an up and coming and very very talented, undefeated fighter Billy Collins Jr who was 15-0 coming into this fight and was a heavy favourite to win the bout. Luis Resto removed the extra protection padding of his gloves and added plaster instead which caused heavy damage to Billy Collins during the fight, but he didn't back down and the fight went the distance even though Billy Collins face was visibly very bruised more that it usually would. Only after the fight once Billy Collin's father went to shake hands with Resto, he noticed the plaster in the gloves and called the officials to investigate. The damage Billy had taken through the fight was so much that he permanently had a blurry vision which led him to quit Boxing professionally. Later died in a car crash, which his family claims was a suicide attempt. Resto was charged for the assault he caused and was later charged. He spent 2 and a half years in prison while the coach lost his license for coaching. This happened in 1983.

[PX-Z]

I created the thread to raise awareness that match fixing in almost every sport does exist and everyone should be careful while betting on games. It is never a good idea to go all in on a specific game, expecting the team to win by looking at the statistics and past results. You just never know what exactly is going on behind the scenes.

I think this is too much overreacting. Yes, I don't rule out the idea that even in big leagues, game fixing does happen but do you think big leagues will ruin their reputation over game fixing? It can't just be done by a few guys. Besides, their careers are at stake if those players and officials participate in match-fixing. Not worth trying the risks.

It actually happens, few people or fans can probably observed that, sports now are considered as business by others and everything that runs inside is just like employees that needed wages, so in able for them to get profit there are things they need to do.
But well, you can't just accused some game to be rigged and game fixed without strong valid proofs and that's how good these people are running the business.

[Hirose UK]

I'm not truly a fan of believing that rigging in sports does happen a lot, especially to the "LEAGUES"  today that most people are following.

As a sports bettor for a long, at least you know where should you place a bet that is likely not a messed up match.

Besides, rigged or not, we as a bettor that don't have inside stuffs will still rely on odds given by the bookies if that's worth placing a bet.

If in football it was only in the minor leagues, cheating would be very possible to occur and of course this is no longer an open secret.
For those gamblers who really take part in every small competition to the big competition, they definitely understand and can understand how small competitions work.
There will be lot of manipulation and also fraud such as bribery will occur more easily and often to be discovered.

Well, of course the big league or main competition is the best choice to get more stable and truly fair match, but we also can't know whether there is really an avoidance of manipulating match results.
Perhaps what makes sports betting chaotic, especially in football, is the surprise that occurs where weak team can turn things around and win the match.

So that the weakness for us as bettors, we can only rely or depend on the odds given.
As for the actual results, no gambler can be sure.

[Darker45]

There's probably a lot more. What I've heard lately are ones that involved local teams. One is an Esport team in DOTA II which was banned by no less than Valve for being involved in game fixing. This was way back in 2021 during the Southeast Asian Tour. The team was Omega Esports. They were replaced by BOOM Esports as a result of the subsequent investigation. The other was in a basketball match in a local league here. In both, it was apparent that something was wrong.

[Natsuu]

Match-fixing is a serious issue in sports and eSports right. It's a reminder to approach games with caution and bet responsibly, as these incidents not only tarnish the integrity of sports but also impact fans and bettors alike. Stay informed and be wary of the risks associated with certain events to maintain the spirit of fair play

[bittraffic]

Match-fixing is a serious issue in sports and eSports right. It's a reminder to approach games with caution and bet responsibly, as these incidents not only tarnish the integrity of sports but also impact fans and bettors alike. Stay informed and be wary of the risks associated with certain events to maintain the spirit of fair play

The rigged fights are sometimes very obvious but we are seeing it like the underdog has a chance to win because he is also a champ. So both are champs but we all know the other is superior.  Yet we proceed with the match because the sports federation/organization mandates them to fight.

This is very common by the way. If any big sports news channel will say it's a rigged fight since we know the difference in their skills, people will agree its a rigged fight but of course, none will say it.

[crwth]

I think it's really evident that there is money, especially big money, involved in traditional sports and even esports today. I remember someone being accused in the Dota 2 eSports scene where the coach bet on his team to lose and made a bunch of money. It's definitely one way to really be an asshole to the game you are playing for your personal benefit. The integrity is lost and the competitive edge is lost.

Definitely deserve some imprisonment or something severe as punishment.