17 Alarming Corruption in Sports Statistics in 2025

Since the 2000s, corruption in sports has boomed. As the sports industry grows in profit, malicious individuals and groups have capitalized on the market. In fact, the illegal betting scene was estimated to make around €165 million in 2021.

Sports are a crucial part of society; however, they’re also the playground for greedy people who want to corrupt the sport to control vulnerable athletes, manipulate games, and earn large sums of money.

Here are 17 appalling statistics about corruption in sports.

How Common is Corruption in Sports?

From 2019 to 2024, the number of sports games worldwide associated with sports corruption via manipulation or match-fixing amounted to around 5,434 sports games in total, which is an average of 1,089 sports games annually.

YEAR	# OF SUSPICIOUS MATCHES	# OF SPORTS ANALYZED	# OF COUNTRIES INVOLVED
2019	882 matches	–	–
2020	GLOBAL PANDEMIC
2021	903 matches	10 sports	76 countries
2022	1,212 matches	12 sports	92 countries
2023	1,329 matches	11 sports	105 countries
2024	1,108 matches	12 sports	95 countries

This is an alarming number to discover, especially considering that from 2016 – 2017, the number of suspicious matches was around 230, amounting to a 373.48% increase in a decade.

To get a better context on sports corruption, the article is divided into three parts:

• Corruption report by sport
• Corruption in Esports
• Corruption report by the country
• Loss and damages caused by sports corruption

Corruption Report by Sport

Globally, sports are among the most profitable activities, with an annual revenue of roughly $145 billion. While the industry is home to great athletes, it also invites corrupt sports officials and organized crime rings.

Below are compelling statistics about corruption reports categorized by sport.

1. In 2024, 1 out of every 615 sports games worldwide was suspected to be manipulated.

(Sportradar)

Soccer was the sport with the most corruption, with around 880 questionable matches, accounting for 66% of the total suspicious matches. In comparison, basketball was reported to have around 205 matches deemed to have some match-fixing activities.

SPORT	NUMBER OF GAMES WITH SUSPICIOUS MATCHES
	2023	2024
Football ⚽	880	721
Basketball 🏀	205	187
Table Tennis 🏓	70	41
Tennis 🎾	61	69
eSports 🎮	46	32
Volleyball 🏐	27	29
Cricket 🏏	13	15

According to Sportradar’s 2024 report, 1 in every 615 matches were either match-fixed or manipulated for bets, which was an improvement compared to the previous suspected corruption rate figures of 1 in every 467 matches in 2023 and 1/473 matches from 2022.

2. There was a 16% increase in suspicious Football matches in 2023 compared to the previous year.

(Starlizard Integrity, Inside World Football)

Out of the total 65,441 football matches across 835 competitions in 128 different countries in 2023, analyzed by Starlizard Integrity Services, a gambling-related match-fixing monitoring specialist, around 167 matches were deemed to have some match-fixing signs.

Additionally, 41.3% of the 167 Football games (69 matches) were played in the European-based league, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

3. An ex-NBA referee had an over 70% winning percentage on games he bet on and officiated.

(ESPN, CBS News)

In an interview with a US-based investigative TV show “60 Minutes” back in 2009, a disgraced former NBA referee, Tim Donaghy, exposed how he was winning 75% of the time he bets on NBA games.

Additionally, Donaghy revealed in the interview that he placed bets in “probably over 100 games,” with the referee admitting that he also officiated most of the games he bet on.

The ex-NBA referee elaborated on how his scheme worked, explaining having 2 accomplices and advising the mob which team to place bets based on his knowledge of other referees’ relationships with certain players and teams and the health status of the players.

Eventually, his involvement with the mob led to an FBI investigation, which resulted in Donaghy’s arrest and being sentenced to 15 months in prison. 

4. Tennis shares 12% of the illegal gambling market worldwide..

(UNODC)

With Tennis being one of the world’s most beloved sports, having over 1 billion fans, it’s not surprising that it’s also one of the most corrupt sports. In fact, 12% of match-fixing and illegal bets occurred in tennis playoffs across all the gambling markets worldwide.

Tennis is vulnerable to corruption due to matches being duos or singles. It’s easier to bribe two individuals than a team of 12–15 to throw the game in exchange for more money than the actual prize of the tournament.

5. FIFA executives received over $150 million in bribes for over 2 decades.

(Britannica)

In 2015, the US DOJ charged 7 FIFA executives and several accomplices with a 47-count, 164-page criminal indictment. Charges against these FIFA execs included bribery, racketeering, and corruption, which amounted to more than $150 million.

According to reports, the corruption started back in 1991 when the suspects received bribes from marketing groups in exchange for television contracts, marketing, and advertisements.

Football pundits have since questioned the integrity of FIFA due to the evident sports corruption from the association’s high-ranking officials themselves.

Corruption in eSports Statistics

6. In 2022, the global Esports illegal betting scene was estimated to be worth around $20 billion.

(The Guardian, PCGamesN, BBC, UNODC)

In a 2016 news article, Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) Commissioner Ian Smith emphasized how betting fraud and match-fixing exist in the scene, stating how the eSports illegal betting scene probably ran at around $2 billion.

Smith added how experts forecast the corrupt eSports betting scene to grow to around $23 billion by 2020, leading to an eSports black market amounting to more than $200 billion.

While a $200+ billion illegal betting scene might be surprising for some, there are many examples that prove just how corrupt the scene is, as shown by the following controversial eSports moments below:

A DOTA 2 player’s match-fixing moment created one of Esports’ biggest memes: the 322

In 2013, pro player Alexey “Solo” Berezin was caught match-fixing against ZRage during the StarLadder Season VI when Solo was caught betting $100 against his own team and then intentionally losing the match to win $322.

This incident led to Solo’s removal from his team and getting banned from StarLadder and the DOTA 2 competitive scene for three years.

8 people were arrested for competition manipulation in an E-Sport Starcraft 2.

In South Korea, 8 people were arrested for match-fixing during an eSports tournament of Starcraft 2 in October 2015. It was discovered that a network of brokers, programmers, and financial backers were behind the manipulation.

1 South Korean StarCraft 2 player was banned forever for match-fixing

Lee Seung-Hyun, a South Korean StarCraft 2 player (IGN: Life) was arrested for match-fixing 2 games in 2016. Lee was eventually sentenced to 18 months in prison, fined KRW 70,000,000 ($50,287), and banned for life from South Korean eSports.

ESIC’s probing led to the suspension of 35 CS:GO players

Back in 2021, the ESIC announced the investigation of 35 CS:GO players for match-fixing. According to ESIC, the players were caught match-fixing and cheating by exploiting a map bug.

7. A 2021 study exposed that around 65.5% of its participants witnessed illegal betting in eSports. 

(Research Gate)

In the study titled “A Model of the Threats that Disreputable Behavior Present to Esports Sponsors,” it revealed that in-game cosmetics (aka skins) were used by many for illegal bets since skins can be bought with real-world money.

This led to an alarming exposition on how participants got involved or witnessed illegal gambling related to eSports, noting how 53 people were always seeing illegal bets being made, another 190 people frequently saw illegal bets, while 272 occasionally witnessed illegal betting in eSports.

The study also reported that the illegal eSports betting scene amounted to around $7.4 billion, which was notably larger than the $4 billion generated by legal sports bets in Las Vegas.

8. 64.2% of eSports sponsors have witnessed match-fixing in professional games.

In the same study from the previous entry, it was also revealed how blatant corruption has been in eSports, as even eSports sponsors have seen athletes try to manipulate and match-fix their games, with 1,022 sponsors (64.2%) stating that they have witnessed match fixing.

An alarming detail mentioned in this study expressed how players are compelled to fix matches because of money. For example, players who bet against themselves and purposefully lose will earn much more because match-fixing is considered a “sure-win.”

Sports Corruption by Country

While it’s interesting to see how the sports corruption has seeped into differing sporting activities, it’s also crucial to see the stance of each country when it comes to sports corruption, since as we know, sports are a big deal worldwide.

For example, there are 5 billion Football fans worldwide, accounting for 62% of the total population on Earth. Sadly, over half of the fans have zero confidence in FIFA, the biggest Football body globally, all due to corruption.

However, both in international and local sports competitions, it is undeniable that there are cases of unreported corruption and undiscovered betting on illegal grounds. 

Below are some reports of sports corruption involving some countries and their nationalities.

9. Asia leads all regions globally in the top sports corruption statistics, being responsible for 65% of match-fixing activities.

(UNODC, Strait Times)

Based on a 2022 report from Europol, unregulated betting and match-fixing in sports games in Asia were 10x more prevalent than regulated gambling. More so, approximately 65% of all illegal and legal gambling activities worldwide are located in Asia.

To compound on how corrupt the sporting scene in Asia is, a news report from 2020 stated that the match-fixing market in Asia was estimated to be worth some US$400 billion in 2018.

10. 10 Chinese snooker players received substantial bans and fines amounting to a total of $193,711 due to match-fixing in 2023.

(BBC)

In June of 2023, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) announced its decision regarding the 10 Chinese snooker players who were accused of manipulating the game’s outcome for betting purposes.

As per the WPBSA Disciplinary Commission, 2 of the 10 players received lifetime bans from professionally playing Snooker as well as $57,000 fines each. For the other 8, they were sanctioned with bans ranging from 3 years to 9 years and a $7,500 fine each.

Organized crime gangs that facilitate match-fixing in world competitions with over a million viewers have taken over the snooker game. It was discovered that crime groups in China caused most of the illegal betting and match-fixing.

11. Around $2 million was profited by a Malaysian and Hungary-based crime syndicate from an Australian soccer game.

(Australian Institute of Criminology, The Guardian)

In September of 2013, Victorian police investigated a match-fixing crime syndicate operation that had plagued Australia’s Victorian Premier League. The coach, 4 UK players, and a Malaysian national, who acted as the middleman, were charged with game manipulation.

The investigation led to serious charges and punishments as those involved in the corruption scandal were charged with lifetime bans by FIFA. On the other hand, the Malaysian national received a 3-year jail time in Australia and deportation to Malaysia.

With Victoria being one of Australia’s strictest gambling territories, governed by its Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), it’s unsurprising how serious and quick the sanctions were imposed.

12. Out of all the regions worldwide, Europe has the most recorded suspicious sports matches, with 439.

(Sportradar)

While Europe has consistently been reviewed as the region with the most match-fixing activities, the region did experience the largest decrease in suspicious matches in 2024, recording only 439 manipulated matches.

This indicated a stark decrease of 229 matches, amounting to a reduction of 34.18%. Compared to 2023, Europe recorded 667 match-fixed games, most of which were Football games.

13. Citizens of the UK perceive sports as the 2nd most corrupt in the country.

(Transparency International UK)

Transparency International UK revealed that the public sees sports as the 2nd most corrupt sector in the country.

Sports has been home to multi-billion-dollar deals and is deeply rooted in political and private interests, allowing corruption to occur with its immense resources.

Losses and Damages Caused By Sports Corruption Statistics

The money laundered in sports corruption amounts to approximately $800 billion to $2 trillion annually. Corrupt practices and the illegal betting market were behind this global corruption.

The following statistics will explore just how much loss and damage sports corruption has done to the betting industry.

14. Illegal bettors spend around $1.7 trillion annually

(UN)

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s December 2021 news report titled Global Report on Corruption in Sport, it was discovered that gamblers wager between $340 billion to around $1.7 trillion on illegal betting markets and sites annually.

More alarmingly, the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) stated that the illegal sports betting scene is comparable in size to the legal market in terms of “margin.” The ARF also added that 80% of sports and racing bets globally are wagered illicitly.

In the Martingale Strategy, players double their bet size with every loss. After a win, revert the bet amount to its initial bet size. While this method requires a big bankroll, it aids in recovering the total loss while gambling. 

In the Martingale Strategy, players double their bet size with every loss. After a win, revert the bet amount to its initial bet size. While this method requires a big bankroll, it aids in recovering the total loss while gambling.

15. 69% of FIFA fans are turning their backs on football’s biggest governing body.

(Transparency International)

The Transparency International survey showed: 

• 69% of fans have no trust in FIFA
• 50% said that FIFA would recover from its issue and restore its reputation
• 43% said that scandals are affecting how they enjoy football
• 60% would not vote for anyone endorsed by FIFA to act as its leader

The public’s trust in the organizers’ and governing bodies’ integrity dropped drastically. If this continues, ticket sales, pay-per-view, and other advertising will also be affected. 

16. Approximately €120 million in illicit earnings from match-fixing were tied to betting worldwide annually. 

(Europol)

Europol’s 2019 investigation estimated that the global market for all sports is worth €1.69 trillion, and the total earnings by crime syndicates are €120 million a year.

Organized crime groups worldwide manipulate competitive sports to elicit money through illegal betting. Their standard scheme involves bribing players and coaches to lose matches intentionally.

Private channel and illicit betting network organizers are the same syndicates that offer large sums of money to athletes and coaches.

17. FIFA lost $28 million due to 20 soccer officials.

(New York Times) 

With the corruption scandal that exposed FIFA executives in 2015, an investigation by the US Department of Justice discovered that an estimated $28 million had been used to pay 20 soccer officials and their unexplained expenses. 

The embezzled millions were found in multiple accounts and channels owned by their former leaders.

Conclusion

Considering the statistics above, it’s hard to deny that the sports industry is plagued by corrupt officials, greedy money-laundering syndicates, and dishonest athletes.

The industry needs two changes: strict regulation of legal betting channels and enforcing full transparency in the funds managed by different sports organizations. 

Sports corruption is a global issue that requires international cooperation. These unlawful activities are conducted behind closed doors, putting sports’ integrity at risk.