Council of Europe Contradicts FIFA’s World Cup Integrity Claims

FIFA’s assertion that no match-fixing alerts were raised during the 2026 World Cup has been contradicted by one of its own Integrity Task Force partners, the Council of Europe. The global football governing body had stated earlier this week that its Integrity Task Force and international collaborators found zero suspicious betting cases across the tournament’s 104 matches.

However, the Council of Europe has confirmed that an independent match-fixing prevention organisation, the Copenhagen Group, issued seven “yellow” alerts and flagged 12 “major controversies” related to integrity risks throughout the World Cup. Both the Council of Europe and the Copenhagen Group sit on FIFA’s Integrity Task Force, making the divergence in accounts notable.

The reasons for the disparity remain unclear, but record-setting betting volumes made some level of suspicious activity almost inevitable. France’s gambling regulator ANJ reported several broken records for online sports betting during the tournament: more than €1.3bn was staked and €157m in gross gaming revenue (GGR) was generated—both more than double the figures from the 2022 World Cup (€597m stakes and €70m GGR). A total of 3.8 million active accounts placed around 113 million bets, a 40% increase from the 2022 edition (2.6 million accounts and 54 million bets). The semi-final between France and Spain became the most-bet World Cup match since 2010, attracting €63m in wagers—surpassing even the €51m staked on the France-Argentina final in 2022.

Regarding integrity monitoring, the Copenhagen Group supplied comprehensive surveillance of prediction markets for the first time, identifying major risks from anonymous wagering and crypto payments. Sports news outlet The Athletic cited sources close to the report noting that Polymarket, one of the largest prediction platforms, opened a market titled “Will Folarin Balogun play against Belgium?” on the same day the US player was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun’s availability was confirmed by FIFA on 5 July, three days after the market appeared. No similar markets were created for the other 14 players red-carded during the tournament, raising further questions. FIFA has yet to officially respond to the Copenhagen Group’s report.