The Athletic reports that Zwane’s sending-off was among seven incidents highlighted by the Group of Copenhagen, an advisory body that investigates betting patterns and events it considers unusual enough to warrant further investigation.
FIFA does not agree with the findings, and the Group of Copenhagen, the sporting integrity arm of the Council of Europe, has only flagged the incidents as potentially irregular, without providing proof of manipulation.
In fact, FIFA’s Integrity Task Force, which worked in conjunction with the Group of Copenhagen at the tournament, said it had found no irregularities.
The Group of Copenhagen has yet to release its full report and has so far provided only a summary.
There are no details as to why the group believes Zwane’s red card was irregular. He was alleged to have struck an opponent in the face while trying to hold him off, although South Africa appealed the subsequent, incredibly harsh three-game ban that ended the veteran midfielder’s World Cup.
Other incidents from the tournament that were issued with ‘yellow notices’, suggesting that something irregular may have occurred, include:
* United States striker Folarin Balogun having his red-card suspension lifted by a lone FIFA official, allowing him to play against Belgium.
* Prediction website Polymarket taking $4.8 million in bets on Spain not to beat Cape Verde in their group match, which ended 0-0.
* A three-and-a-half-minute review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which resulted in a goal by Spain’s Ferran Torres being disallowed in his side’s 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
“The Group of Copenhagen’s notices can be explained by atypical behaviours such as changes in odds or hedging liquidity. There are many explanations that are not manipulations,” Christian Kalb, an expert on gambling integrity, told The Athletic.
“The major problem is when there may be a conflict of interest and potential inside information on those issues. When we speak of prediction markets, we can detect some unusual behaviours, but we must be very careful, as they can be used for hedging markets.”
