August 14 – The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) is the latest Asian federation to turn to betting monitoring tools to battle the threat of match-fixing in its leagues. Earlier this week the Football Association of Thailand announced it had signed up to use Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System (FDS).
The Indonesian initiative comes at an important time for a federation that is emerging from a bitter civil war that saw the FIFA recognised PSSI reunited with the breakaway Indonesian Football Rescue Association (KPSI).
This year’s Indonesia Super League (ISL) season is its sixth, and its first since the incorporation of the Indonesia Premier League (run by the former KPSI) into the Indonesia Super League.
The need for strong governance to build public and government trust in the federation in the world’s fourth most populous nation is strong. The deal with Sportradar will continue until the end of 2016.
FDS will be used to monitor betting behaviour and patterns for the remaining 290 matches of the 2014 season, including the 2014 ISL season and Divisi Utama. Then, the system will cover all 1,538 matches in both the 2015 and 2016 ISL, Inter-Island Cup and Divisi Utama.
The suspicions of match-fixing in Indonesia have for some time been rumoured to present throughout the game involving referees, players, managers and even club owners. In a football market that has struggled for stability and where the payment of players has been irregular, the condition for match-fixing have been ripe.
Even at national team level match-fixing allegations have led to investigations, the most notable being the 10-0 Bahrain win over Indonesia in a World Cup qualification match. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) investigated but no charges were brought.
Joko Driyono, General Secretary of PSSI, said: “We understand that approximately $65million (IDR750,000,000,000) is bet on the ISL alone every season. This is a staggering figure. We cannot afford fo
r even $1 of that to be placed on a manipulated outcome.”
Driyono emphasised the importance of ensuring football in Indonesia has “credibility and integrity” which contribute to making it “exciting for players, attractive for sponsors and broadcasters and exhilarating for fans.”
The PSSI are also in discussions to start using Sportradar’s Fraud Prevention Services (FPS) to help educate those involved in Indonesian football about the dangers of match-fixing.
Managing Director Strategy and Integrity Andreas Krannich, who signed the agreement on behalf of Sportradar, said: “Monitoring over 1,800 matches for the Football Association of Indonesia is a responsibility that we take very seriously. The PSSI have not only put their faith in us and our Fraud Detection System, but they have done so for the long term.”
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