MATCH FIXING DOES HAPPEN; IT'S NOT A MYTH
Theoretically, any fixed match can be turned into a sensation. Simply because fixed matches happen regularly in sports. Underdogs occasionally take points from favorites not only in lower divisions but even in the Premier League or the Spanish La Liga. But if you want to spot a match-fixing, look for matches where one or more of the following factors coincide:
A sharp drop or rise in odds.
No star players or the coach of one of the teams.
Referees influence the result, penalty, red card, etc
Bookmakers refusing to accept bets.
Goalkeepers are the most vulnerable part of a team.
In top leagues, match-fixing is practically impossible. The resonance is too high; no player would risk a successful career for a one-time, even large, reward. Our focus mainly on games in the lower leagues, or sometimes on friendly matches. Bookmakers offer bets on them too, and it's much easier to explain any sensation in them. However, you can bet on such games much less than on the Champions League final.
Match-fixing is certainly more common in the lower divisions and at some less popular leagues around the world.
Top leagues typically feature lucrative sponsorship deals, numerous cameras surrounding the pitch, and thousands of fans both in the stadium and in front of television. Under these conditions, "giving away" a match is still possible, but it carries a much greater risk. Players in the lower leagues have a much easier task. How many video cameras record a match in the second division?
Or how many spectators are in a stadium in the third division? Any "scam" there would be easier to disguise than, for example, in the Premier League, which is followed by millions of fans from all over the world .
It's logical to assume that fixing matches is possible when players receive lesser wages. Lower leagues or unpopular championships are suitable for this. No one would think that rigging of results is possible in the English Premier League.
At the same time, it is quite possible in the hypothetical Albanian championship.
Lower leagues have less media attention and fewer recourses to monitor and prevent match-fixing.
The outcome of some games cannot be proven or confirmed by facts, especially if the
events are held in third-world countries. However, even in the lower divisions of European countries,
"fixed matches" happen on a regular basis.
You can't be sure of any match unless you're the organizer. The most reliable factor is inside information, which, as we've said, is only available to a select few.
The only people who really make big money from fixed matches are the organizers, who prepare in advance and bet money through a network of brokers in different countries and bookmakers.
Is betting on fixed matches illegal?
Generally speaking, no. If you're not the organizer of the fixed match, then betting on it in itself is not illegal.
