It has long been known that football has a match fixing problem. It might not permeate into the beautiful game at the highest level, but it still blights the lower reaches of leagues around the world – including England’s own football pyramid. That affront to the integrity of the sport, as well as the damage it does to football’s reputation in the eyes of players, coaches, fans, media firms and other commercial interests, should be a concern to the authorities.
Horror stories are not in short supply. In China, a whopping 38 professional players – including former internationals – were suspended from any involvement in football for their part in a match-fixing scandal in 2024. Some were banned for life, such was the severity of their corruption. In Germany, authorities launched an investigation in 2024 into alleged match-fixing in lower league football in the country. Details of the ‘fixed’ games, which included fixtures as high as the third tier, were reportedly sold on the dark web.
Starlizard Integrity Services, who independently investigate potential corruption in football, revealed that the number of fixed games around the world increased by an alarming 16% in 2023 on the year prior. And if you thought that English football was free of such things, think again: as Moses Swaibu revealed when he admitted to accepting waist-high towers of cash to fix games just a matter of years ago.
The £500,000 Promise
Swaibu was considered to be a talented young defender as he came through the youth ranks at Crystal Palace. Although he didn’t quite make the grade with the Eagles, the Londoner regrouped in non-league before re-establishing himself with Lincoln City, winning the club’s Young Player of the Year Award in 2010 and attracting the interest of the likes of Aston Villa. He would eventually return to non-league football, and – curiously – at the age of 24 he disappeared from the game altogether. It wouldn’t be long before the reason why emerged.
Swaibu Charged with ‘Conspiracy to Defraud’
In 2014, he was arrested for his involvement with an international betting syndicate. Swaibu was charged with ‘conspiracy to defraud’, which in layman’s terms meant that he admitted to fixing matches. He was sentenced to just over a year in prison, and would never play professional football again. A decade after his original arrest, Swaibu broke ground and spoke to the BBC in an exclusive podcast series about match fixing in football.
Paid in Bank Notes
In it, he revealed that match fixing in the lower reaches of English football was not uncommon, before offering very striking visuals of ‘holdalls full of cash’, ‘scary Russian bad guys’ and clandestine meetings in hotels. After one fix, Swaibu was paid £500,000 in used bank notes. However, such conspiracies are hard to keep quiet for long. Swaibu was playing in the National League South – the sixth-tier of English football – and bookmakers were noticing suspicious betting patterns in a division that punters rarely touch in any great volume.
Swaibu Changes Sides
Indeed, one game involving Swaibu saw so much money wagered that it became a more bet-upon contest than many Champions League matches back in 2012. A large percentage of that cash was bet by new accounts too – always a red flag for the bookies. So, they reported their evidence to the police. Before long, the game was up for Swaibu and his co-conspirators. Nowadays, Swaibu is on the other side of the fence. He works with global integrity agencies to help root out match fixing in football, putting his personal experiences to good use.
What Is Match Fixing in Football?
In truth, an individual player only has so much influence over a game – it’s very difficult for them to impact the final result because there are 21 other players on the pitch who are (or should be) trying their best to secure the win for their team. Swaibu, who played as a defender, has revealed that he didn’t want to do anything too blatant in order to get the desired outcome for his fixers, i.e. by giving away a penalty in obvious fashion.
But there were things he could do that would pass by most, if not everyone, in the beautiful game: stepping up with his hand in the air as if to play the offside trap, knowing full well his opponent was onside, being one such tactic. In his case, many of the fixes were on half-time and full-time results: not easy for Swaibu to play his part in securing the desired outcome.
However, in recent years, prop betting markets have merged with increasing popularity. These allow punters to bet on things like how many shots a player will have, how many tackles they will make, etc. The cards markets have also exploded in popularity. Suddenly, those with an interest in match fixing had new avenues to explore.
Lucas Paqueta
🚨 The FA want to ban Lucas Paquetá from football FOR LIFE as details of his alleged betting scam have come to light.
It’s understood around 60 people bet on Paquetá to be booked in one or all of the matches, with the stakes ranging from £7 to £400, leading to combined winnings… pic.twitter.com/pmXeU6ULKa
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 4, 2024
Those at the very highest level have even been embroiled in alleged corruption. Lucas Paqueta, a supremely talented Brazilian at West Ham, was charged with deliberately getting booked in a number of games for the Hammers – doing so, allegedly, at the behest of a betting syndicate.
The charges hung over Paqueta’s head for much of the 2024/25 season, with the possibility of a ten-year ban – effectively ending the 26-year-old’s career – if found guilty. In the FA Cup, the spotlight turns to lower league clubs dreaming of a giant-killing in the early rounds of the competition. Such games, particularly those that are televised, are the subject of more betting interest too, with bookmakers offering player prop markets for teams that wouldn’t normally be afforded such a thing.
Kynan Isaac
If Lucas Paqueta is found guilty the punishment could be career ending!
In 2022 Stratford Town defender Kynan Isaac was banned for 10 years for his part in spot-fixing during an FA Cup tie.
The 29-year-old played for the Southern League club in a 5-1 defeat by Shrewsbury Town… pic.twitter.com/WyA85JXsvC
— West Ham Football (@westhamfootball) May 23, 2024
That ultimately proved too tempting for Kynan Isaac, a Stratford Town player enjoying his side’s run to the first round of the FA Cup. That contest with Shrewsbury Town back in 2021 was televised and, thus, the subject of more betting market coverage. The bookies offered odds on several players to get booked, and Isaac… well, you can probably guess the rest.
Encouraging a group of friends to bet on him to get booked, which he duly with an outrageous high tackle, Isaac no doubt thought he was quids in. However, bookmakers noticed the suspicious betting patterns, reported them to authorities and the 29-year-old was hauled in for questioning. Following an investigation, he was banned from football for ten years.
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