SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A match fixing alert triggered by Française des Jeux (FDJ) has led to an ongoing international ‘match manipulation’ investigation attached to Tunisian football.
French state owned betting operator FDJ, is reported to have alerted national police in relation to €32,000 being wagered on Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club US Ben Guerdane beating rival ES Metlaoui on7 April 2019.
FDJ alerted the police of suspicious betting activity, in relation to large bets being placed on a Ben Guerdane victory before the match-start, with wagers recorded across the city of Nantes – Ben Guerdane would win the match 1-0 having been awarded a penalty of 53 minutes.
The event, was not the first time that FDJ had alerted authorities of Ben Guerdane suspicions, as the season before, the bookmaker had reported two further ‘incidents’ to French gambling regulator ARJEL, at the time detailing that that €80,000 had been wagered on Ben Guerdane.
The alerts, forced the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) to suspend the matches of this weekend’s (20 April) regional ‘Sidi Bouzid’ football league, as officials considered ‘allegations of match manipulation’.
The FTF has taken the match and wagering information to Tunisia’s Attorney General, setting a two-week review deadline.
“The entire file, as well as a video, was given to the Attorney General,” the FTF added. “In conclusion, the federation will severely and rigorously deal with anything that would affect the sports charter and match tampering.
The BBC reports that Ben Guerdane officials will not comment on the matches.
