European sports betting operators continue to deter match-fixers

It adds to the growing weight of evidence, notably published by law enforcement bodies, that it is primarily unregulated markets outside of Europe that are being targeted by criminals. 

ESSA’s figures for 2012 show 109 alerts of which, after detailed examination of the evidence, only 6 were found to be of sufficient concern to be referred to the relevant sporting and regulatory authorities. That is slightly less than the previous year when 8 cases were referred. These figures are based on what ESSA members, employing sophisticated monitoring tools, have identified across their betting markets. 

Khalid Ali, ESSA Secretary General, said “the licensed betting industry is at the forefront in combatting betting related match-fixing and today’s figures demonstrate that regulated online betting has actually created increased security. The ability of ESSA members to be able to identify consumers and trace transactions has added new layers of protection against fraud.” 

He added: “Evidence from a variety of independent sources demonstrates that it is criminal organisations using unregulated bookmakers outside of Europe and poor sports governance that actually present the greatest threats to sport. It is increasingly clear that accusations against regulated betting operators are unfounded and are a result of comercial differences rather than integrity issues.”

Poor sports governance is a matter which has often been overlooked but which is now rightly being seen as central to addressing match-fixing and is a key focus of the European Parliament’s resolution on match-fixing agreed earlier this year and supported by ESSA. It is a matter highlighted by the 2012 report from FIFPro, the world football players’ union, on the issues facing players in Eastern Europe. It found that a widespread lack of salary payments, affecting nearly half of the players surveyed, contributed to them being more open to approaches from corrupters.

“Corrupters will continue to pray on the vulnerabilities of players until key sports governance issues, such as a lack of salary payments, are properly addressed,” Ali warned. “Greater focus on cross-sector cooperation, the effectiveness of which was clearly evident during the London 2012 Olympic Games, strengthening education programmes, which the betting sector has pioneered with EU Athletes, and addressing por sports governance such as player salary issues should be the priorities.”