The Group of Copenhagen, the advisory group of the Committee of the Macolin Convention, which brings together national platforms from all continents to combat the manipulation of sports competitions, explored whether it was possible to detect match-fixing by analysing players' performances.

In a project spanning over several months, six national platform coordinators, representing France, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, worked with UEFA under the aegis of the Council of Europe. Three companies - Footovision, Good Game! and StatsPerform - contributed to analyse a series of football matches played between 2017 and 2019.

They concluded that the analysis of sports performance could help combat match-fixing by assisting investigators in better identify players of particular interest. However, it is important to stress that currently such analysis is not a proof in itself but it could potentially corroborate serious and consistent indications, such as suspicious betting.

In this context, it was agreed that further work is needed to develop validated methodologies based on empirical and independent data to ensure objective outcomes. This new approach raised the interest of all parties concerned about the need to further improve the effectiveness of the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions.

•  Final report of the Working Group on Performance Analysis