Why Women's Game Is Ripe For Fixers

Tim Wigmore warns that match fixers may be emboldened by the wage disparity at international level

- Tim Wigmore

And so to women’s cricket today. Worldwide, the sport has never been in better shape, as evidenced by the 128 million who watched the Women’s World Cup final in India alone.

The unprecedented interest is wholly welcome, but it would be naive to pretend that it does not bring grave risks: above all, the heightened risk of match-fixing. If women’s cricket has never been more popular, it has also never been more attractive for fixers.

To make a profit from their criminal activities, bookmakers require liquidity in betting markets – that is, as much money being bet as possible. The more there is, the more profit for corruptors.

In July, the Women’s World Cup final had £78m traded on Betfair – an 860 per cent increase on the 2013 final. Betfair, of course, are merely one of the bookmakers offering odds on the event. Worldwide, more than 150 different companies – including copious illegal bookmakers in India – offered odds.

The upshot is that, although we will never know, it is conceivable that a total of £1bn worldwide was bet on the final.