The European regulated betting industry welcomes the Council of Europe’s Convention on match-fixing, which aims to prevent the manipulation of sports results. The EGBA, ESSA, and the RGA, believe that it represents a relatively positive and potentially significant development in the fight against sport and betting related fraud. At the same time, certain provisions raise concerns regarding their compatibility with …
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Industry bodies publish report on sports betting commercial & integrity issues
In the week when Ministers from around 50 countries are expected to sign a new match-fixing Convention in Switzerland, the regulated betting industry, represented by the ABB, EGBA, ESSA and RGA has published a report entitled Sports Betting: Commercial and Integrity Issues to help inform the wider debate. The author Jason Foley-Train updates the 2010 report he produced while on secondment (to the betting industry) from the UK Department for …
Read More »Council of Europe adopts convention on match fixing
Ministers from around 50 countries are expected to sign a new convention at a conference in Switzerland in September where they will also discuss the risk of other forms of corruption in sport. In what’s being hailed as ‘a significant step in the fight against organised crime and unethical behaviour in sport’, 47 member states of the Council of Europe …
Read More »ESSA’s Khalid Ali: long and challenging process to remove ‘betting right’
Khalid Ali, Secretary General of ESSA, the regulated betting industry’s integrity body, comments on the passage of the Council of Europe’s convention on the manipulation of sports competitions. “The industry has worked hard over the last couple of years to work constructively with policymakers on the Council of Europe’s proposed text, most notably including the removal of the promotion of …
Read More »ESSA identifies 30 suspicious betting patterns in 2013
ESSA, the regulated betting industry’s integrity body, has launched a new corporate identity following a recent rebranding in the lead up to the release of its 2014 integrity report. The new report has found that out of 148 unusual betting patterns identified by ESSA members in 2013, 30 were found to be suspicious and were subsequently referred to the relevant …
Read More »Federbet criticised over match fixing claims
Federbet, the Belgian-based integrity body which claimed last season 110 matches were identified as having been fixed, with suspicions over a further 350, has been widely criticised by both sporting and gambling organisations. French regulator ARJEL issued a joint statement with the French Football League (LFP) decrying the claims. It said: “ARJEL and LFP cannot agree with the statements that …
Read More »EU Commission study challenges sports betting right
The regulated betting industry welcomes the main findings of a European Commission funded study on sports organisers’ rights in the European Union. The study ( link to study) finds that there is no legal basis nor rationale for an EU-wide right to consent to bets (ie “sports betting right”). The study also concludes that the French sports betting right, whereby …
Read More »IBIS makes debut at Winter Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the regulated betting industry have announced a new information reporting arrangement surrounding any suspicious betting activity. The agreement signed by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) comes in time for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi but will extend to include Rio 2016. IOC Communications …
Read More »ESSA 2012 European Match Fixing Report
The European Sports Security Association (ESSA),the Brussels based monitoring and reporting body have published the Their 2012 report into match fixing and irregular betting on European sports and bookmakers. The ESSA flagged 109 irregular bets with only six subsequently referred to local policing authorities. Using sophisticated data collection tools to monitor 27 European Union nations along with Iceland, Norway and …
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