UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee Chairman Francesco Barić commented on the situation with fixed matches and illegal betting in Ukraine.

The Swiss multinational corporation Sportradar, headquartered in St. Gallen, published a report titled "Corruption in Betting and Fixed Matches 2022." It reflects the situation with betting in sports overall and football specifically.

The research also analyzes the state of affairs regarding fixed matches and illegal betting, specifying that 1212 suspicious events were identified in 12 different sports disciplines and in 92 countries from a total sample of 850 thousand events. In the report, it is noted that in 99.5% of cases, no attempts at fixed matches were detected, and no sport exceeded suspicion levels of 1%.

Francesco Barić, chairman of the Ethics and Fair Play Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association, commented on these results. "I want to emphasize that in Ukraine we have practically overcome the practice of betting on fixed matches in football. The national championship resumed in August 2022, and since then UEFA has not reported any suspicious matches or events», — quotes him the publication Agimeg.

«This is due to the process of increasing transparency in football, as well as our internal monitoring system that allows us to immediately intervene once we receive any signal. Thanks to an agreement with our bookmaker provider, we can actually interrupt a live broadcast of a match if there is suspicion of its being fixed. So at a dramatic moment for Ukraine from the football world comes a signal of hope and positivity,— added Barić. —By the way, I would like to point out that Russia consistently holds second place among countries with the highest number of falsified matches and events, giving way only to Brazil in 2022. It is telling that some footballers who played in Ukraine but switched to the Russian championship during the war were found involved in suspicious matches and attempts to organize them».

Finally, Francesco Barić commented on the chances of Ukraine's national team participating in Euro 2024 qualification alongside Italy: "The team is good, it has many bright individual players and even more desire to perform well and get out of the group. Of course, this will be difficult; the national team, like Ukrainian club teams, is forced to travel long and uncomfortable routes for away matches, spending many hours in buses and making complicated transfers. But hope always exists, and I am sure that the games against Italy in September and November will have a beautiful emotional backdrop».