Dafabet is all over English cricket, sponsoring live streams of games watched in India where betting is largely illegal. Great work by @nathanpaulsouthern.bsky.social and Lindsey Kennedy for @josimarfootball.bsky.social @cricketacademic.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/10/29/d...

PANEL: Cricket, Gambling and Match-Fixing 29 October 2025 5pm-6pm (London time - GMT) Chair: @stevemenary.bsky.social Panelists: Dr Minhyeok Tak – Loughborough University, Anca-Maria Ghergel – Sheffield Hallam University, Will Gunn – Sporting Solutions Open to all. DM us for the Teams link!

Thanks to @playthegame-org.bsky.social for this platform and @stevemenary.bsky.social for the write-up! www.playthegame.org/news/fifa-is...

New. For months, the Russian army has secretly recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of jobless migrant workers in Qatar to fight on the frontline against Ukraine. By @samindrakunti.bsky.social and @bobbyperu.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/09/25/t...

@begovicmarko.bsky.social and I teamed up to write this new report on the growth of offshore betting regulators which facilitate illegal betting and match fixing ifhaonline.org/default.asp?...

Important new research from Steve Menary on the increase in relationships between betting companies and leading cricket teams, tournaments & players post-Covid. Have a read below ⬇️⬇️

Cricket is being flooded by betting companies targeting South Asia .. where betting is largely illegal. New research showing how big the problem is for @playthegame-org.bsky.social @cricketacademic.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/new-res...

New. Money-laundering, scamming, cyber slavery compounds and appalling human rights abuses are no obstacles for Premier League clubs looking for betting partners – or the UK regulator. By @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/07/29/p...

New. Uefa’s integrity partner Sportradar consistently claims that it doesn’t sell data to unlicensed gambling operators. But its annual report states that it generates significant revenue from unlicensed gambling. By @journoandy.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/07/22/b...

Sportradar always claim to protect the integrity of the game. In reality, they are the baddies. Latest with @philippeauclair.bsky.social, @journoandy.bsky.social, @stevemenary.bsky.social and Jack Kerr. josimarfootball.com/2025/07/22/b...

New. Leicester were set to unveil their kit for the new season last week, but the announcement was postponed. Was it because their new sponsor KBET is a hitherto unknown – and illegal – online bookmaker? By @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/07/21/r...

New: Sanctioned? Fined? Banned? Not a problem if you’re a sports betting company eager to do business. Illegal bookmakers linked to Premier League clubs recently set up stalls at a gambling conference in London. By @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/07/07/b...

You may have noticed ‘Flabet’ at the Club World Cup. Here’s the story of Flamengo’s shirt sponsor. For @josimarfootball.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/07/03/f...

Preseason friendlies are now an excuse for major clubs to jet around the world looking for new sponsors and fans - for @sportingintel.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/sporting... @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social @fbandclimate.bsky.social

Just two clubs will make their debut in the UEFA Champions League in 2025/26. The door is neary closed, the Super League almost here … For the Union of European Clubs www.ueceurope.org/post/ucl-div...

MCO problems keep on coming: UEFA investigating potential conflict of interest between participation of DAC 1904 from Slovakia and Hungary’s ETO, which is subject to “legal proceedings”

Two decades ago I started writing this book. Gibraltar & Kosovo made it into FIFA but Greenland’s treatment by football’s governing bodies is a total disgrace. What are these organisations for other than to cosy up to dictators and sell out football? Greenland = The Original Outcasts

New. Declared bankrupt in Curaçao for not paying punters, BC.GAME, main sponsor of Leicester City FC in the 2024/25 season, moved jurisdiction. But the company behind BC.GAME does not exist. By @stevemenary.bsky.social and @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/06/10/g...

We have one month to save @josimarfootball.bsky.social. If you can help, please do. 🙏 josimarfootball.com/2025/06/03/a...

€173 to fix a match!

New. Russian gambling operators are offering live betting on Ukrainian football matches – often thanks to data from Uefa’s long-term integrity partner, Sportradar. By @samindrakunti.bsky.social, @jackkerr.bsky.social, @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/05/20/p...

Extraordinary news. TGP Europe, the company which enabled dozens of illegal Asian-facing sports betting operators to be registered in Great Britain - and sponsor PL clubs - has surrendered its licences. Good riddance. www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-regis...

Fourth and final instalment of the special report @stevemenary.bsky.social and I have done on multi-club ownership for @playthegame-org.bsky.social: this time, the crazy world of MCO in Mexico, where the biggest bookmaker, Caliente, is also the biggest club owner. www.playthegame.org/news/the-dom...

So 1xBet is now a ‘member and committed supporter’ of Sports Integrity Global Alliance siga-sport.com/members-and-... 1xBet couldn’t get a licence in Brazil and black listed in plenty of other places but that obviously doesn’t worry SIGA!

Part 3 of 4 of the special report @stevemenary.bsky.social and I have devoted to multi-club ownership for @playthegame-org.bsky.social. This time, how MCO networks are both so fluid and so opaque that they escape detection - and oversight. www.playthegame.org/news/water-t...

Is multi club ownership increasing football’s vulnerability to crime? Part 2 of an investigation into the problems posed by MCO by myself and @philippeauclair.bsky.social for @playthegame-org.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/the-hid... #MCO

AskGamblers have published their 2024 complaints review and the 4 biggest offenders are all major sponsors of sport, particularly football and cricket. Does sport read these things? Do they even care? @josimarfootball.bsky.social @cricketacademic.bsky.social

I’ve found 400 clubs tied up in multi club ownership, bound to be more, and multiple problems. The first in a four-part series for @playthegame-org.bsky.social by myself and @philippeauclair.bsky.social on why MCO is such a problem. #MCO www.playthegame.org/news/footbal...

In May 2024, Greenland applied to join Concacaf. After being ignored for months, a meeting was scheduled in Miami for Feb 27 then postponed and moved to London tomorrow. It’s now been postponed again. Hard not to believe wider factors at play

New. Football might unite the world, but there is little unity inside Fifa. Employees describe a toxic workplace, a culture of fear and even death threats. @samindrakunti.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/03/17/c...

New tube. We have launched a YouTube-channel to present our investigative pieces in a new format. First out is @journoandy.bsky.social: Who’s the man in the VIP seat close to PM Keir Starmer and why won’t Wolves disclose his name? youtu.be/BFkBiyNN5xs

"The recent concerns over a number of T10 matches illustrate the increasingly close – and increasingly unhealthy – relationship between betting and cricket, which reaches far deeper than many realise" | ✍️ @stevemenary.bsky.social

New. Gianni Infantino’s Instagram feed is a gallery of some of the planet’s worst rogues. And his enthusiasm for Donald Trump seems to be growing amid the international turmoil. By @philippeauclair.bsky.social and @samindrakunti.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/03/03/m...

New. Russia was kicked out of world football after the invasion of Ukraine. Still, at the heart of Uefa’s decision making is Alexander Duykov, the chairman of Gazprom Neft, a company with a private army fighting Ukrainians. josimarfootball.com/2025/02/24/p...

8xBet all over Australia’s A-League on TNT Sports in the UK

Nice to get mention from the @theguardian.com for my @cricketacademic.bsky.social talk about why T10 is such a problem. Thanks Tanya Aldred www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/f...

1xBet banned in the UK but Sky still helping them advertise here …

The Falkland Islands return to international cricket after a 13 year gap with a tour of Costa Rica next month. Anyone interested in how the Falklands first got a team up from a pool of 40 players can read more in issue 34 of @nightwatchmanxi.bsky.social

Thanks to the @cricketacademic.bsky.social for letting me talk at their annual conference in Loughborough yesterday about T10 and the problems of illegal betting. More in the latest issue of @thecricketer.com and the last issue of @nightwatchmanxi.bsky.social

A powerful plea from @stevemenary.bsky.social to the ICC to recognise the T10 format and provide integrity at all pop-up tournaments, in order to overcome what he describes as an “integrity blackspot” - ie promoting illegal betting. #CRN2025

New. Keir Starmer watched a game at Wolves alongside an ‘executive’ from an Asian gambling platform – a man that all parties have refused to identify. By @journoandy.bsky.social, @jackkerr.bsky.social, @stevemenary.bsky.social, @philippeauclair.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/02/04/m...

@parissaingermain.bsky.social has succeeded in a bankruptcy claim against CBet, an unlicensed betting company and former sponsor, which had persisted in claiming to be a partner of the French club despite the deal elapsing. CBet lost its Curacao licence after regulatory changes in the island.

English football being weaned off betting sponsorship? Maybe not. Six English football clubs - Notts Forest, Newcastle, Fulham, Burnley, Bournemouth & West Ham - registered to send staff here to Barcelona for the betting industry’s main jamboree, ICE. For context, I only found 4 Spanish clubs.

Illegal bookmaker BJ88 all over the Big Bash again on Sky TV in the UK. Not a good look for Australian cricket given this story by @journoandy.bsky.social for @josimarfootball.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2024/08/06/b...

Fixed friendlies remains major problem in Europe and January is the worst month with many clubs in Eastern Europe, where the problem is largest, on mid winter break. Ivo and I found 58 suspcious friendlies in 2025. For @sportingintel.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/sporting...