Euro 2020 which took place from June 11 to July 11, 2021 was the biggest football extravaganza in the first half of 2021. Betting operators around the world expected a major spike in betting activity during the tournament and they were not disappointed.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is always keeping a close watch on football betting, especially during top tournaments like Euro 2020 and the FIFA World Cup.
One of the concerns that sports associations like UEFA have is whether sports betting will impact the integrity of the beautiful game and result in match fixing.
Sportradar which is a Swiss based company is a specialist in analysing sports data and has focused on both domestic and international football games in Europe for over a decade. Sportradar paid special attention to Euro 2020 to see if there was any unusual betting activity across multiple betting sites.
Sportradar relies on its Betting Fraud Detection System (BFDS) to monitor sporting activities and betting action. The Swiss provider confirmed that not a single betting alarm or single game had triggered any alarms during Euro 2020. Whenever BFDS threw up an alert, the team investigated the same and found logical reasons to explain the alert.
The company also operated its Anti-Match-Fixing Assessment Group (AMFAG) during Euro 2020. AMFAG members include public authority figures and stakeholders from different sports. They worked together during the tournament to share information and immediately highlight any integrity related issues that needed to be reviewed.
Most betting operators did brisk business during Euro 2020 based on numbers published by Sportradar. The company carried out research into the betting turnover during Euro 2020 and found that the combined worldwide betting during Euro 2020 generated a record $73 billion.
Each game during Euro 2020 is estimated to have generated around $1.5 billion in bets while the Euro 2020 Championship final generated the highest in bets as a total of $4.8 billion came in. The team that had the highest betting turnover throughout the tournament ($2.4 billion) turned out to Italy who ended up becoming Euro 2020 Champions.
Sportradar continues to partner and work with some of the biggest sports organizations in the world as they look to stamp out illegal betting and match fixing. Some of the organizations that work with Sportradar include Swedish Football Association, European Handball Association and the International Table Tennis Federation.
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