Brazil gov’t picks IBIA as official sports integrity partner

Brazilian sports have been enshrouded in a protection layer thanks to the country partnering with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA).

The sports integrity monitoring body reached a comprehensive agreement with Brazil’s Ministry of Sports to safeguard the football nation’s nascent betting market in the early stages of the regulated Bets regime that launched just this year.

IBIA’s ‘Availability of Sports Betting Products’ 2024 report revealed that sports betting in Brazil will reach around R$191.7bn ($34bn) in total turnover by 2028. The trade association further quoted independent analysts who see IBIA’s coverage of that market to reach over 70% in the years ahead.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “IBIA welcomes this important partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. As the market grows, so too does the responsibility to ensure that robust integrity safeguards are in place. 

“This agreement will ensure that information on suspicious betting is swiftly shared with the Ministry to support effective integrity actions. This includes access to detailed, account-level data available only through IBIA’s unique network.”

One of the frameworks of the Bets regime requires each licensed sports betting operator to be a member of a sports integrity monitoring body similar to the IBIA.

When it comes to the IBIA in particular, an official contract with Brazil’s government will most certainly be taken as a strong indicator of trust and responsibility, leading to even more regional partnerships.

Brazil Minister of Sport, André Fufuca, added: “Today we are signing a milestone in the fight against match-fixing in Brazilian sport. Integrity must be a constant principle when it comes to transparency, ethics and, above all, the correctness of sports results. 

“With these agreements, we will have more than enough instruments to curb this practice and guarantee greater transparency in competitions. 

“Thus, athletes, clubs, organisations, fans and the entire population will be able to fully trust in the fairness of the results and, with this, will have peace of mind to develop the full potential of Brazilian sport.”

Prior to the IBIA, the Ministry most recently partnered with Sportradar in another move to safeguard Brazil’s sports sector.