Match-fixing in sport is at an all-time high with suspected illegal activity generating an estimated £124m in betting profits last year... as new data shows suspicious cases in a record 903 matches across 10 sports and 76 countries

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Match-fixing in sport is at an all-time high, with suspected illegal activity generating an estimated £124million in betting profits last year.

According to new figures released on Thursday, suspicious activity was uncovered in a record 903 matches across 10 sports and 76 countries in 2021 – up 2.4 per cent on the previous high of 882 in 2019.

Football accounted for more than three quarters of all suspicious activity last year, with 694 fixtures detected altogether.

Match-fixing in sport is at an all-time high, with suspected illegal activity generating an estimated £124million in betting profits last year

The research was compiled by Sportradar Integrity Services, a global sports technology company whose bet-monitoring system is used by more than 120 sports organisations across the world.

They monitored more than 500,000 fixtures in 2021 and say their findings highlight 'the serious, ongoing threat match-fixing presents to the integrity of global sport at all levels'.

'There is no easy short-term solution to the match-fixing issue, and we're likely to see similar numbers of suspicious matches in 2022, if not more,' warned managing director Andreas Krannich.

'As the market has developed, so the threat of match-fixing has evolved. Now, would-be corruptors take an increasingly direct approach to match-fixing and betting corruption, with athletes messaged directly via social-media platforms.'

As well as football, suspicious matches were also detected in cricket, tennis, basketball, ice hockey, table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball and esports

According to Sportradar's report, football has the highest frequency of suspicious matches at a rate of one in every 201 fixtures.

It emerged that half of suspicious cases in domestic leagues came from the third tier or lower. Suspicious matches were also detected in cricket, tennis, basketball, ice hockey, table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball and esports.

Sportradar estimates that global sports betting turnover has now reached a record £1trillion, with £124m generated in match-fixing betting profits.

The report comes six weeks after the FA revealed they were looking into suspicious betting patterns around a yellow card shown to an Arsenal player in a Premier League match this season.