Footage of scandalous bookmaker 1xBet broadcasts betting on fictitious amateur matches in various sports. Photo: Bellingcat/Joshimar
A joint investigation between the Bellingcat project and sports research platform Josimar has uncovered details of a massive scam.
1xBet’s amateur tournaments are broadcast all over the world and include players from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, including young children.
So-called short soccer is very popular in broadcasting illegal amateur matches. Matches involve teams of 2 to 5 players on each side and last 10 to 12 minutes. Once the match is over, the players change their shirts and start a new match on an adjacent pitch separated by a curtain. Therefore, Arsenal could become Amsterdam or Dortmund. The important thing is that the action is continuous and there are games to bet on at all times of the day and night.
All bookmakers accept bets on such matches and tournaments, but in this case we are talking about bookmakers organizing such contests in order to increase their own income.
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The same players will wear the jerseys of different world-famous soccer teams and play in non-stop illegal amateur matches organized by the bookmaker 1xBet. Photo: Bellingcat/Joshimar
Teams such as Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona can also be seen in illegal short pitch soccer matches. Players wear the uniforms of these famous teams for better visibility and increased betting income. At the same time, 1xBet is also a global partner of FC Barcelona, PSG, Olympique Lille, Serie A and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Players also wear the uniforms of non-existent teams and are given fictitious names, creating a new fake league.
According to Bellingcat and Josimar, people are paid to participate in these games (although it’s unclear whether all players are paid). One short-form footballer interviewed by investigators said he played multiple matches for different teams during his five-hour workday each day. He said shifts are always changing, games are played at night and “some participants don’t leave the court during the day” because they need money.
The man claims that his annual income was more than the average Russian doctor (the average monthly income of a Russian doctor is about 40,000 rubles, which is equivalent to 1,360 rubles in Belarus).
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Illegal fake short course football match hosted by illegal bookmaker 1xBet.
According to Bellingcat analysis, 1xBet live-streamed 1,297 amateur short-format football matches over a 24-hour period in September. By comparison, Germany’s Bundesliga, England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga have a total of 1,066 games per season.
1xBet runs amateur fake games every day and is broadcast non-stop, reaching around 5 million viewers each month. This means that the site broadcasts almost 500,000 amateur football games each year. It’s just short football.
The 1xBet scam was carried out on an industrial scale. This bookmaker broadcasts videos from various venues where amateur tournaments are held, including basketball, volleyball, floorball, hockey, tennis, and table tennis. There are also absurd sports like “subsoccer” (also known as “bench football”), where two players sit on benches almost next to each other and try to get the ball into a small net.
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Excerpt from the sub-soccer broadcast on the 1xBet website
All illegal amateur matches are held in converted warehouses and arenas, some of which resemble the set of the television series “The Squid Game,” Bellingcat, Joshimar notes.
Until now, it is unclear where exactly these short matches will be held, and 1xBet itself has not revealed this information, and regularly tests some of its players with a lie detector, confirming the nature of their employment. I’m looking to see if anyone has told me about the location or location. game.
However, journalists were able to locate some ruins, some of which were in Belarus. For example, 1xBet held a closed fictitious tennis tournament under the auspices of Daily Aqua Tours at the private tennis academy “Avante Club” in Minsk, and organized illegal basketball matches on the courts of the state sports complex Olympits in Mogilev. I am doing it. Mogilev Regional Olympic Reserve Athletics Center (in addition, these basketball games are held by fictitious teams within the framework of the so-called Belarusian Sky League, which officially does not exist in this country).
Neither the Avante Club nor the Mogilev Regional Olympic Track and Field Conservation Center responded to requests for comment on the situation from the Bellingcat and Joshimar projects.
What is characteristic is that the bookmaker 1xBet itself officially ceased its activities in Belarus, stopped its services to Belarusian customers and prohibited them from placing bets, making deposits and withdrawing funds. That’s it.
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1xbet’s closed fake tennis tournament will be held at the tennis academy Avante Club in Minsk. Bellingcat / Josimar survey screenshot
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1xbet’s private fake basketball competition will be held at the state sports complex “Olympiec” in Mogilev. Screenshot of 1xBet broadcast of Bellingcat survey / Josimar
In Russia, where 1xBet is officially banned and prosecuted for violating the law, the bookmaker also hosts many illegal matches. Investigative journalists discovered that underground 1xBet games are being held regularly
The Mordovia Arena Stadium (one of the largest stadiums in Russia, built specifically for the 2018 FIFA World Cup), home to the Alexander Stepin professional football school in Bryansk, is home to Russia’s ruling party United Russia and state energy company Gazprom. We are cooperating with , at the Belomorets Stadium based on the Zvezdochka Physical Culture and Recreation Complex in Severodvinsk.
These sites also host military-patriotic events for children, where children ages 14 to 16, both boys and girls, participate in fictional games and teach children how to use weapons.
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A mock basketball game (above) at Mordovia Arena Stadium on October 15, 2024. Military-patriotic event with weapons held at the same Mordovian Arena (bottom). Photo: Bellingcat/Joshimar
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A simulated short ball match (above) at the Alexander Stepin Professional Football School in Bryansk. A military-patriotic event by the same children (bottom). Photo: Bellingcat/Joshimar
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Girls aged 14-15 take part in a hypothetical 1xbet floorball match that takes place at the Belomorets Stadium in Severodvinsk. Frames of the 1xbet broadcast of September 2024.
Investigators also discovered one illegal 1xBet gaming venue in Ukraine, where bookmakers were officially banned after the Russian invasion began. Fake basketball games are still being held at Kiev’s Svoi Arena.
In response to requests from the Bellingcat and Josimar projects, the management of Svoi Arena stated that it “does not know anything about cooperation with 1xbet.”
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One of the 1xbet fake basketball matches held in September 2024 at the Svoi Arena in Kiev. 1xBet broadcast still images
The main founders and organizers of the illegal bookmaker 1xBet are Russians Dmitry Kazorin, Roman Semiohin and Sergey Karshikov. They are all from Bryansk.
Who is behind the illegal bookmaker 1xBet? Forbes publishes findings
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1xBet organizers (from left to right): Dmitry Kazorin, Roman Semiokhin, Sergey Karshkov
In the mid-2000s, Semiohin and his partner opened a computer club in the basement of one of Bryansk’s residential areas. In addition to teenagers, older people also came to the club to make sports bets. Sometimes the stakes exceeded the club’s daily income. So Semiorkin decided to build a network of gambling offices under the FunBet umbrella.
He opened his first location in the cultural hall of a local machine building factory. The KVN team, captained by Sergei Kharshikov (later head of the cybercrime countermeasures department), also performed there.
When casinos were shut down in Russia in 2009, bookmakers flourished.
A few years ago, the 1xbet trademark was transferred offshore to Cyprus. The legal brand in Russia remained “1xstavka”.
Russian investigators estimate the bookmaker’s illegal income from 2017 to 2022 at 63 billion Russian rubles ($848 million). The office owners were placed on an international wanted list and a warrant for their arrest was issued.
By that time, Bryansk’s billionaires had already obtained Cypriot passports and are still living on the island.
The bookmaker’s Cyprus office employs 400 IT specialists. About 80% of them are from Bryansk. There are also workers from Belarus. An IT specialist there earns 3,500 euros. In addition, the company builds housing and provides its employees with interest-free loans for apartments.
