Chris Farnell on Football Culture

Welcome to the Chris Farnell Medium blog. It is a metric at the heart of football’s fiercest culture war, pitting traditionalists against stat-savvy data experts. But expected goals along with other analytics such as passes allowed per defensive action has become a vital new weapon in the fight against match-fixing. More than 30 cases in over half a dozen countries where football analytics is being used in the package of supporting evidence alongside suspicious betting patterns and intelligence to bring those involved to justice.

In one major case, two teams are suspected of “trading” the results of their league and cup games, so that one club was saved from relegation and the other qualified for Europe. Although there were no unusual betting patterns, the authorities believed a fix was at play and went to experts at Stats Perform, which used its Opta data to identify several red flags. The matter is with the sport’s governing body and the police force in that country.

In another case, a team suspected of fixing the match had no touches in the opposition box, suggesting a lack of intent and triggering an alert. A third match under review involves a late goal from a near-post corner following a large number of suspicious bets on the number of goals in the game. Although on the surface nothing appeared wrong with the players’ actions, investigators used tracking data to show the defending team’s set-up and movements were completely different for the final corner.

Most sports bodies prefer not to comment on cases, and for legal and confidentiality reasons is unable to name teams or countries involved. However Jakub Cavoj, the integrity officer at the Slovakia Football Association, confirmed it was among the federations using analytics in investigations.

Check back soon for more!

Chris Farnell is a senior partner at IPS Law, providing the best quality legal advice. Find out more about Chris Farnell on his IMDb page here. Read the Chris Farnell Lawyer news here.