On June 14, 2024, in France, the national gaming authority, ANJ, decided to ban betting on a specific Moroccan football match between CAY Berrechid and JS Soualem. Fighting match fixing and protecting sports bettors were at the heart of this decision.

ANJ’s restriction on betting

Since March 1, 2024, the ANJ has implemented stricter regulations limiting betting activities on certain sports competitions. This initiative includes revising the “sports list,” which specifies the tournaments eligible for betting. The revised list ensures that only competitions deemed low-risk for manipulation are eligible.

The ANJ also prohibits bets that do not depend on the bettors’ skills and sports knowledge (such as the colour of a player’s socks or whether the number of goals is odd or even), as the subject of the bet must have a genuine sporting stake.

Protecting bettors

The decision to restrict betting on specific matches is rooted in ANJ’s commitment to safeguarding the integrity of sports and protecting the bettors. The ANJ President has the authority to intervene if there are credible indications of match manipulation. As Elsa Trochet-Macé, Director of Communication at ANJ, explained to SiGMA News, these indicators may include significant anomalies in betting patterns, sudden and unexplained changes in betting odds, abnormal geographical concentrations of bets, alerts from international partners, or reports of manipulation in media or social networks.

In 2010, France opened up the market for online gambling and games of chance to competition. In that first year, French people bet €448 million on sports events. By 2023, this amount had multiplied by 30, reaching €14 billion.

As the sports betting market proves to be increasingly lucrative, the temptation to manipulate competitions for financial gain, to the detriment of bettors, grows stronger. The ANJ reports that from 2022 to 2023, the number of competitions suspected of manipulation rose from 491 to 618.

Illegal gambling and match fixing

Match fixing and illegal gambling are intrinsically linked. At a UN anti-corruption conference, illegal betting was identified as the “number one factor fuelling corruption in sports”.

In Morocco, where the match occurred that the ANJ banned betting on, Naili Khaild, a Special Adviser at MDJS (the Moroccan state lottery), stated that approximately 50 percent of the market operates illegally, intensifying concerns about the integrity of the games.

Football, the world’s most popular sport, attracting massive betting volumes, is particularly vulnerable to manipulation attempts and corruption, at every level. In 2015, FIFA, the international sport’s governing body, faced scandals and criminal accusations. The arrest of several FIFA officials at a luxurious Swiss hotel left a lasting impact on football enthusiasts worldwide.

International collaboration

The Macolin Convention provides a framework for international cooperation to combat illegal betting activities. Operating under the convention, The Copenhagen Group facilitates collaboration among national platforms dedicated to preventing match manipulation. These platforms enable the exchange of information and best practices among public authorities, sports organisations, and betting operators worldwide. Such collaborative efforts strengthen global capabilities to detect, investigate, and sanction instances of sports manipulation effectively.

Contacted by SiGMA News about the reasons for prohibiting betting on the Moroccan football match, the ANJ declared that it is through international collaboration that it received information indicating potential risks for bettors.

Paris Olympics

Looking ahead to the Paris Olympics, France is strengthening its surveillance mechanisms to ensure the integrity of the games. The ANJ, in collaboration with international bodies like Interpol and Europol, is scaling up its monitoring capabilities with additional staff and advanced technological tools.

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