Francesco Baranca: "In Ukraine, we practically defeated the practice of betting on contractual matches in football"

25.03.2023 11:22

The head of the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee, Francesco Baranca, commented on the situation with match-fixing and illegal betting in Ukraine.

Sportradar, a Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in St. Gallen, has released a report entitled "Betting Corruption and Match-Fixing 2022". It reflects the betting situation in the world of sports in general and in football in particular.

The study also analyzes the state of affairs regarding match-fixing and illegal betting, specifying that in 2022, 1212 suspicious events were detected in 12 different sports and in 92 countries out of a total sample of 850 events. The report states that 99,5% of events were found to be free of attempted match-fixing, and no sport crossed the 1% suspicion mark.

Such results were commented on by Francesco Baranka, the head of the Ethics and Fair Play Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association. "I want to emphasize that in Ukraine we practically defeated the practice of betting on contractual matches in football. The country's championship resumed in August 2022, and since then there have been no reports of suspicious matches or events from UEFA." quotes his words Agimeg edition.

"This is thanks to the process of increasing transparency in football, as well as the internal monitoring system, which allows us to intervene immediately as soon as we receive any signal. Thanks to the agreement with our TV provider, we can actually immediately interrupt the live broadcast of the match in case of suspicion of its contractual nature. Therefore, at a dramatic moment for Ukraine, a signal of hope and positivity is coming from the football world, - added Baranka. — Moreover, I would like to emphasize that, for example, Russia consistently ranks second among countries in the world with the largest number of falsified matches and events, second only to Brazil in 2022. It is significant that some football players who played in Ukraine, but during the war moved to the Russian championship, turned out to be involved in suspicious matches and attempts to organize them."

Finally, Francesco Baranca commented on the chances of the national team of Ukraine, which is participating in the Euro 2024 qualifiers in the same group as Italy: "The team is good, it has many bright personalities and even more desire to perform well and leave the group. Of course, it will not be easy, the national team, like Ukrainian club teams, is forced to travel to away matches on very exhausting and uncomfortable routes, spending many hours on buses and making difficult transfers. But there is always hope, and the matches with Italy in September and November, I'm sure, will have a wonderful emotional background."