The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has tied up with UK-based company Sportradar, which will offer its "integrity services" to prevent betting and other corrupt practices during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) through its Fraud Detection Services (FDS). With the 13th Indian Premier League being held behind closed doors, the challenge for the Board's Ajit Singh-led Anti-Corruption Unit is very different as there has been a surge in betting-related frauds even during some of the state unit's leagues, and it's expected to increase manifold during the lucrative event.
"Yes, BCCI has inked a deal with Sportradar for this year's IPL. They will be working closely with the ACU and offer their integrity services," an IPL source confirmed the development to PTI.
"Sportradar has very recently red flagged at least half a dozen games in Goa football league which came under fixing cloud. They have also worked with FIFA, UEFA and various leagues across the globe," the source added.
The BCCI ACU, in recent times, tracked unusual betting patterns during the state T20 leagues, including the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), as a major betting company stopped taking bets after unusual bets were being placed.
According to Sportradar, Fraud Detection System (FDS) "is a unique service that identifies betting-related manipulation in sport. This is possible due to the FDS's sophisticated algorithms and constantly maintained database of odds which are leveraged for the purpose of detecting match-fixing."
It is believed that the company tracks the odds and movements of at least 600 independent bookmakers to detect anomalies in betting patterns. It processes around 5 million data sets per day.
It is understood that apart from bookies and possible corruptors, who will look to approach players and support staff online, the advent of multiple fantasy gaming companies will also keep the world's richest cricket board on tenterhooks.
"Fantasy gaming is not exactly betting in its traditional sense but the element of gambling does exist. So it's a good thing that BCCI is engaging with a company that works on betting related corruption in sport," a BCCI veteran said.
An interesting aspect of fraud detection is the mathematical algorithm that is used to study betting patterns.
It is a "sophisticated model" which monitors live betting on offer during an event.
"There are 25 live alerts, which instantly identifies irregular betting in the marketplace. The mathematical model uses calculated odds, which runs alongside bookmakers' odds, in order to highlight if the odds during a specific minute or time is out of line, and therefore, potentially suspicious," the Sportradar website stated under its ''25 Live Alerts'' section.
There are also "44 detailed pre-match alerts which are based on odds movements observed at betting operators."
"An alert is generated in FDS when odds at a bookmaker changes greater than pre-defined parameter", which can be customised according to the nature of the sport.