Three Match-Fixing Suspects Have Been Arrested in West Midlands
West Midlands Police arrests a trio of people linked to illegal match-betting practices.
Suspicious Boxing bets lead to arrests. © Anilsharma26, Pixabay
Key Facts:
- Three people have been suspected of match-fixing and arrested
- The charges relate to a boxing bout that took place in 2024
- Other, more high-profile cases of match-fixing have happened recently
Two men (aged 23 and 33) and a woman (aged 54) have been arrested by West Midlands Police on charges related to match-fixing. They are accused of suspicious betting activity related to a boxing bout in 2024. The arrests took place in Kings Norten and Longbridge.
They came about after an investigation carried out by the UK Gambling Commission. West Midlands Police offered support and eventually made the arrests once it was clear that there had been an instance of illegal activity. It is not certain what suggested there was something illegal going on.
The three people arrested by the police are said to have violated Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005. According to this, someone is classed as having committed an offence if they cheat at gambling or do anything to help another person cheat.
The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed that it will not make further comments on this case for now. It is uncertain what will happen to the three people arrested, though there will most likely be some sort of update in the near future.
Other Cases of Boxing Matches Linked to Suspicious Betting
There was a case last year that resulted in a match being called off. Eddie Hearn, a promoter, revealed that a match between Aqid Fiaz and Kane Baker was cancelled with just a few hours’ notice because of irregular betting activity taking place in the run-up to it.
The British Boxing Board of Control investigation found that Fiaz had violated Section 30 of its ‘Rules and Regulations 2023’ due to his betting activities. Fiaz was subsequently fined in October 2024 for having broken the rules.
Also, last year, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario demanded its licensees stop accepting bets on all events held by the World Boxing Association. This was due to growing concerns about matches being fixed in some way.
Match Fixing in a Different Sport
Boxing is far from the only sport that’s been linked to match-fixing in recent times. Snooker has also made headlines thanks to cases of people fixing matches and betting in suspicious ways. In fact, professional player Mark King was suspended for five years.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association found the player guilty of two offences: providing insider information and match-fixing. This took place in November last year.
The following month, two top darts players, Billy Warriner and Leighton Bennett, were banned after admitting to match-betting. The former was served a 10-year ban, while the latter was handed an eight-year ban; both received a hefty fine in addition to their bans.
