City of Buenos Aires regulator, IBIA sign agreement to cooperate on sports betting integrity

The Lotería de la Ciudad, the public entity in charge of regulating sports betting in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and betting integrity monitor International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) have signed a memorandum of understanding on sports betting integrity.

The agreement is expected to contribute to the development of a regulated, transparent, safe and responsible sports betting market, and discourage all types of unfair or fraudulent practices and the manipulation of sports competitions in the City of Buenos Aires.

Martín García Santillán and Federico Cattadori, President and Manager of Gaming and Betting Control of Lotería de la Ciudad, respectively, proceeded to sign this Memorandum with IBIA, which establishes collaboration guidelines for the exchange of technical knowledge and information related to the integrity of sports and betting.

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “IBIA is delighted to have reached an agreement with the Lotería de la Ciudad to work collaboratively to protect sports, consumers, and the regulated betting market from match-fixing.

"The association and its members will analyze the betting on their global markets, which cover over $137bn in sports betting revenue per annum, and work closely with the Lotería de la Ciudad to identify and investigate any suspicious betting activity.”

As highlighted in IBIA’s Q1 integrity report, during the period 2018-22, the association reported 9 suspicious betting alerts on Argentinian sporting events, which represents approximately 9% of all the 105 alerts reported in the LatAm region in that period (behind Brazil with 33 alerts, Dominican Republic with 11 and Mexico with 11).

This alliance is seen as beneficial for Lotería de la Ciudad as the sharing of information on suspicious betting activities will allow feedback on prevention and will facilitate the improvement of actions to ensure fraud control and prevention. In turn, this comprehensive approach is set to ensure that actions are taken to mitigate any potential criminal activities.

IBIA is a non-profit organization that seeks to guarantee integrity in the sports betting sector. Its membership includes nearly 50 companies and over 125 sports betting brands, including many that operate with a licence in the City of Buenos Aires.

Representing nearly 50% of all regulated commercial online betting activity, IBIA’s key objective is to fight against corruption in betting in order to protect the integrity of its members, consumers and partners, such as sports bodies, from fraud caused by the unfair manipulation of sporting events and associated betting.

"The signing of this Memorandum highlights the policy of Lotería de la Ciudad to strengthen ties with international bodies for the protection of the integrity of sport and sports betting and, in addition, reinforces the commitment to the prevention, surveillance and detection of unfair or fraudulent practices, within a regulated, safe and transparent framework," the parties said in a statement.