French football working with lotteries to strengthen integrity

Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has joined forces with the United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports (ULIS) to protect the integrity of France’s top divisions. 

With a focus on Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, ULIS and LFP have agreed to exchange information in a bid to prevent and combat manipulation threats. 

This will allow the two firms to uphold the principles of transparency, fairness and ethical conduct in France’s top-tier football leagues, continuing the LFP’s commitment to ensuring professional football clubs operate within the French Football Federation’s regulatory landscape. 

ULIS President, Gilles Maillet, highlighted: “This partnership reinforces the collective efforts of ULIS and the LFP to ensure that Ligue 1 McDonald’s and Ligue 2 BKT remain synonymous with fair play and ethical excellence.”

An “extra instrument” to protect integrity

As part of its operational role within the alliance, ULIS will conduct pre-season integrity assessments of clubs and other stakeholders in a bid to strengthen the foundations of French football. 

“ULIS has always been committed to ensure the integrity of French sports and we will continue to do so now with the additional support of the LFP,” Maillet continued.

In a similarly football-focussed partnership in Europe, Gamban recently linked up with Professional Footballers’ Association of Northern Ireland (PFA NI) to help footballers who suffer from gambling harm.

Gamban agreed to provide PFA NI members with access to its blocking software technology free of charge.

Melissa Etherington, Partnerships Executive at Gamban, highlighted that gambling addiction is a growing issue in football, which impacts mental health, finances and a player’s performance on the pitch. 

She explained: “It also has the potential to impact sports integrity. We are delighted to partner with PFA NI to raise awareness of Gamban among those most at risk from harms related to online gambling.”

ULIS – formed by a syndicate of state lotteries – also works with several organisations to strengthen its commitment to integrity globally. For example, last year Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, became one of its associate members.

Spelinspektionen soon after launched a new cooperative framework to combat match-fixing and corruption in the country.