I was in Scorumnigeria Whatsapp group and we were discussing fooball betting in general. A member then asked if there is a way he can be getting fixed matches to place bets on. He stated that many fixed match sellers are on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp raking in cool cash from fixed matches. I didn’t give a response then but promised to do so by writing a post so others can learn from it.

As a football enthusiast, I have full understanding of the sport ranging from the business aspect to the most complex stuffs. If you asked me if there are fixed matches, my reply will be YES we have fixed matches. A well-known example is Calciopoli scandal that rocked Italian football in 2006.

Source

Match fixing occurs when match/fixture is played to a pre-determined scoreline/result. This gives gamblers an advantage. They profit from this scenario since they already have prior knowledge of the result. Match fixing is not necessarily on the final scoreline. It can be on some small events during the match such as penalties, red cards.

There are numerous reasons for fixing matches. Ranging from getting favourable ties to gambling, many matches are fixed. However, the most common match fixing reason is for gambling. In a bid to make profit for gamblers, certain matches are fixed. In a case of fixing matches motivated by gambling, money contact is required between the initiator usually the gambler and the football players, coach, or match officials.

Let’s take a look at what happens in match fixing.

In a match between Team A and Team B

The gambler approaches the match official or player to give or collect a red card in the match. The gambler would have placed bets pertaining to the red card in a betting platform. Normally when the gambler approaches the match official or player, money contact is required and a certain amount of money is parted with. This amount must be regained back in folds. Therefore, the gambler also sells the fixed match for a fee to other gamblers in order to recoup and make profit. That is typical example of how matches are fixed.

So easy you say. Yes, it look easy but it’s not easy practically. In most cases when a player or match official is accused of involving in match fixing, they end up being banned from football. This means you need a huge amount of money to fix a match. That is why most match fixers target low leagues whose wages are low.

You have a smaller league fixture you want to fix. It’s not straightforward like that. The issue of betting platform comes in. Most betting platforms have the right to void bets suspected to be fixed. So a widespread betting of a particular market across betting platforms will only result into the bet being voided.

This is why most fixed matches are not widespread like that.

Now to the big question THE FARCE CALLED FIXED MATCHES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

You already know how match fixing works. Now you see many social media users claiming to have fixed matches for sale. You start wondering

  1. Is this real.
  2. How do they get it?

Anyone claiming to have fixed matches on social media are fakes. In every football matches, there are 9 possible outcomes.

Let’s take the coming Liverpool vs Chelsea match as example. The possible outcomes are

Half time | Full time

Liverpool| Draw

Liverpool | Liverpool

Liverpool | Chelsea

Draw | Liverpool

Draw | Draw

Draw | Chelsea

Chelsea | Draw

Chelsea | Draw

Chelsea | Liverpool

Now you can see the total outcomes. What the supposed fixed match sellers do is either

  1. Open 9 different accounts and publish each outcome as the supposed fixed match. In a case one wins, they will request for payment from their unsuspecting users before dropping another match.
  2. Send 9 different outcomes to users via dm. Anyone that wins, they tell the user to pay so as to get the next game.

These are the tricks used by the supposed fixed match sellers on social media.

You need huge amount of money to fix a match. You also need to keep it low so that your bets won’t get voided which will make you lose all the money invested. You can see that it is impossible to get fixed matches off the internet. If you get one that earned you some bucks, it is a case of luck. Do not pay for the next game.

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