The "alarm" of the global gambling industry has been ringing more frequently over the past year. The latest annual report released by the International Betting Integrity Association shows that in 2025, the organization received 300 alerts of suspicious betting activities, an increase of 29% from 2024. This is no small number. These suspicious activities involved 16 sports including football and tennis, with Europe being the hardest hit area, accounting for 35% of the total alerts. Notably, although the African market currently accounts for only 10% of the alerts, it has been specifically "named" as a key growth area in the report. It is predicted that by 2030, the total revenue of the African gambling market is expected to soar from $3.5 billion in 2021 to $19.4 billion, harboring huge opportunities as well as corresponding challenges in integrity management.
Global Integrity Challenges: Football Tops the List, Europe Has the Most Alerts
This annual report outlines a map of global gambling integrity risks. Suspicious alerts are mainly concentrated in the following areas:
•Core "problem" sports: Football leads with 110 alerts (37% of the total), followed by tennis (25%), with esports and table tennis tied for third (each accounting for 11%).
•Main risk regions: Europe with 104 alerts becomes the region with the most suspicious activities, accounting for 35% of the global total.
•Actual impact: Based on these alert data, ultimately 54 matches were confirmed to be manipulated, spanning 5 sports, with 24 athletes, teams, and officials sanctioned.
Behind these figures is the IBIA, the world's largest operator-led integrity monitoring system, which monitors over $300 billion in betting transactions annually.
Africa: The Next Growth Blue Ocean and Compliance Focus
Although the current number of suspicious alerts (31) is not high in absolute terms, Africa is seen by the IBIA report as a future key potential market. Data forecasts paint an enticing prospect: by 2030, the total gambling revenue in Africa is expected to reach $19.4 billion. The market structure will also undergo significant changes:
Online Dominates Growth: Online gambling total revenue is expected to reach $16.4 billion by 2030, with 79% being regulated domestic market revenue.
Steady Development of Land-based Casinos: Revenue from land-based casinos is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2021 to $3 billion by 2030.
Market Landscape: South Africa is still expected to lead, accounting for 29% of the market share, followed by Nigeria and Ghana.
The rapid market growth inevitably comes with more complex risks. The CEO of IBIA pointed out that its global monitoring and alert platform is supporting investigations and preventing corruption through three main pillars: gathering member intelligence, cooperating with sports institutions and regulators, and conducting training. This is essentially a warning to operators mining the African market: growth dividends and compliance construction must go hand in hand. As the market size expands, establishing an effective integrity protection system will be key to ensuring the sustainable development of the industry. For insights into global gambling market trends and compliance risk analysis, visit the PASA official website.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
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PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
