Sports integrity – Page 2 – FairOdds Network

December 16, 2024

Sweden government confirms country will sign Macolin Convention

Sweden is to join the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, also known as the Macolin Convention, the country’s government has confirmed.

Sweden first announced its intention to join the convention in October last year, with several ministers declaring their support. The government has now confirmed it will proceed with these plans.

In declaring its support, Sweden becomes the thirteenth European Union country to ratify the Macolin Convention. Belgium, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Moldova, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine have all previously ratified the convention. It has also been signed by 39 other European states and signed by three non-EU countries; Australia, Morocco and Russia.

The convention remains the only international legal framework on match-fixing and sports manipulation. It sets out a framework for public authorities to corporate with sports governing bodies, betting operators and competition operator..

December 10, 2024

Weekend Report: footballer and tennis official banned for betting breaches, Omnigame secures Danish licence

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: bans issued to Irish footballer and Bosnian tennis official for breaching betting rules, Omnigame picks up Danish licence and Yolo makes new senior appointments.

Irish footballer faces ban over betting charge

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has issued a six-month ban to Finn Harps FC player Ryan Rainey after he was found to have breached betting rules.

Breaches are connected to a number of League of Ireland and Men’s FAI Cup games that took place between 2021 and 2024. The FAI said Rainey also placed a “significant” number of bets on football worldwide in 2024.

After a disciplinary hearing, an Independent Disciplinary Committee ruled Rainey should face a ban. This has since been confirmed by the League of Ireland, in which his team, Finn Harps FC, plays.

Rainey, who previously played for English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, to..

December 3, 2024

UK darts players handed lengthy bans for match-fixing

The UK's Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) yesterday (2 December) banned players Leighton Bennett and Billy Warriner after they were found guilty of and admitted to charges of match-fixing.

Bennett has been suspended from darts for eight years and Warriner 10 years. The British players have also been ordered to pay £8,100 (€9,762/$10,271) each in costs.

The DRA ruling follows an International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) report for suspicious betting activity released in September 2023. This relates to matches played in the Modus Super Series.

The matches in question saw Bennett play Mindaugas Barauskas and Benjamin Drue-Reus, both on 6 September 2023. Two more games took place on 8 September 2023, with Bennett facing Ryan Harrington and Barauskas for a second time.

Working with the Gambling Commission Sports Betting Intelligence Unit, the DRA launched a full investigation into the matter.

The DRA ruled both players had cases to answer for “serious” breaches of its rul..

October 30, 2024

Brazil ministry of finance agrees partnerships with match-fixing monitoring bodies

On Tuesday (29 October), Brazil's ministry of finance announced it has agreed to partner with four industry monitoring and integrity organisations to aid the fight against match-fixing.

The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), which sits within the ministry of finance, penned Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACTs) with Genius Sports, Sportradar, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (Siga and Siga Latin America) to counter fears over match-fixing in Brazil.

The partnerships will last for five years, with the collaborations aiming to strengthen the safety network surrounding the manipulation of sports in Brazil. They will consider the bodies’ learnings and experience in more mature markets like England and Australia.

The agreements will also serve to help the SPA gain knowledge of the betting market in Brazil, educating SPA teams on how to monitor the legal sports betting sector, which is set to go live alongside igamin..

October 8, 2024

Asian Football Confederation partners IBIA to tackle match-fixing

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has entered into a partnership with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) strengthening its efforts to combat match-fixing across the sport.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the parties committed to jointly detect irregular betting patterns and suspicious activities in football. The partnership between the AFC and IBIA will run for a period of four years.

The IBIA will deploy its Monitoring and Alert Platform to share real-time data on suspicious betting activity with the AFC. This will strengthen the AFC’s abilities to investigate potential match manipulation.

Both parties also said that the partnership will support the AFC’s goal of creating a secure environment for the sport.

AFC committed to keeping football “clean”
Speaking about the deal, AFC general counsel and director of legal affairs, Andrew Mercer, says the organisation is committed to maintaining high ethical and sporting standards within football.

The ..

September 24, 2024

Svenska Spel targets high school athletes in latest match-fixing campaign

Svenska Spel is taking a hardline stance on match-fixing by joining forces with various local sports associations to launch a new awareness campaign.
The ‘My match’ campaign warns match-fixing is the biggest threat to sport today. It urges those involved in sport to “say no” to manipulation and report any incidences.

Sweden’s Basketball Association, E-sports Association, Ice Hockey Association, Tennis Association and Football Association are involved in the initiative.

It is largely targeting high school athletes hoping to influence them to speak up if they are aware of any manipulation taking place. Various campaign videos will be shown in schools and at referee meetings across the various sporting associations involved.

“Match-fixing goes against sport’s fundamental idea of fair play, which is a prerequisite for the sport’s credibility and survival,” the campaign’s question and answers page explains.

“The main aim is to counteract the culture of silence that can arise when peo..

August 19, 2024

Brazil committee endorses harsher penalties for match-fixing

Brazil's constitution and justice committee (CCJ) of the chamber of deputies has passed a bill that seeks to make the penalties for those found to have manipulated matches harsher.
The bill is looking to amend Brazil’s General Sports Law. It was originally authored by representative Bandeira de Mello before representative Orlando Silva drafted a revised version.

Current penalties for those guilty of match-fixing are a prison term of between two and six years as well as a fine. The substitute bill would increase that penalty from a third to a half should the person involved serve as a referee, player, coach, bettor or agent as well as a manager, director or representative of a sports club.

Additionally, the amended bill includes a prison sentence of between two and six years for those who solicit or recruit people such as referees, athletes, coaches or directors to commit manipulation.

The sports committee had already approved the bill. The chamber of deputies’ plenary will now ..

August 7, 2024

Match-fixing or mass hysteria in Brazil?

A match-fixing storm has recently engulfed football in Brazil with allegations of manipulation and lies providing a dramatic side plot to the upcoming launch of the country’s legal sports betting market. But is the problem actually as bad as feared?
If you ask people to name five things Brazil is most famous for, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t mention football. The bright yellow shirts of the national football team are perhaps the most iconic around, with legendary players such as Pele and Ronaldo leading the Seleção to win five World Cups, the most of any country.

And yet, such a historic footballing nation has seen its most treasured sport thrown into disarray of late.

O jogo bonito is a religion in Brazil, but is there a dark side?
The row erupted when American businessman John Textor, owner of Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, made allegations of match-fixing against São Paulo players. Textor claimed he had evidence they were bribed in a game against Palmeiras in ..

July 29, 2024

Weekend Report: Kayshon Boutte’s “dumb decision” and Betway partner Man City

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB covers the news you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week we’ve got news of Betway partnering with Premier League champions Manchester City, a bill to restrict online gambling advertising in New York and more.
NFL’s Kayshon Boutte glad to be back
New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte spoke of his delight at being back to playing football after charges against him for gambling were dropped earlier this month.

Boutte was arrested in January over accusations he had placed over 8,900 bets while under the legal gambling age of 21 in his native Louisiana. However, the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division dropped those charges in July.

Speaking to reporters after the fourth day of Patriots’ training camp, Boutte labelled his actions as a “dumb decision”. He also said he was glad to be focusing on football again, admitting he needs to “stay away” from gambling.

Betway becomes global betting partner of ..

July 8, 2024

Weekend Report: Labour win’s impact on gambling, FanDuel thriving in NY

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB updates you with the stories you may have missed over the last few days.

New Labour government brings gambling uncertainty

Thursday’s (4 July) UK general election brought with it a significant shift in power as Labour claimed a huge majority. This ended a 14-year reign by the Conservatives and led to a major overhaul of key parliamentary personnel.

Lisa Nandy MP, who has taken over as the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport, will be charged with overseeing Britain’s gambling industry. On the World Series of Politics podcast prior to the election this week, Regulus Partners’ Dan Waugh outlined how a Labour government could impact the gambling industry.

“In terms of whether it has a major bearing on the gambling market, it’s unclear,” Waugh said. “From an industry perspective, it looks reasonably comforting. Labour is making some fairly positive noises about this.

“I’m not sure it’s that straightforward and the reason I say th..

April 12, 2024

ITIA bans Spanish tennis player for 15 years over corruption

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has banned Spanish player Aaron Cortes for 15 years after he was found guilty of a series of corruption charges.

Cortes admitted to 35 breaches of the ITIA Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). Charges relate to activity between 2016 and 2018.

Breaches include contriving the outcome of events, accepting money to impact outcomes of events and failing to report corrupt approaches. The ITIA also said Cortes wagered on tennis and provided money to tournament officials in exchange for a wild card.

The 29-year-old, who had a career-high world singles ranking of 955 in September 2017, co-operated fully with the ITIA investigation. He also accepted an agreed sanction and waived the right to a hearing before an independent anti-corruption hearing officer.

As a result, Cortes will be banned from 27 March 2024 until 26 March 2039. He has also been ordered to pay a $75,000 (£59,823/€70,039) fine, with $56,250 of this suspended.

During the b..

April 11, 2024

Kajuru to lead parliamentary inquiry on Brazil sports betting

Senator Jorge Kajuru has been chosen as the president of a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) on Sports Betting to investigate match-fixing accusations in Brazil sport.

Kajuru, a senator for the Brazilian state of Goiás, will be supported by Senator Eduardo Girão, who will serve as vice-president. Romário, a former footballer who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 before becoming a senator, will be rapporteur of the CPI.

The CPI will meet weekly and investigate complaints made by players, managers and betting companies. If it finds that games have been manipulated, the CPI will request the court system to ban from football the person responsible.

The CPI was first introduced in December. It will consist of 11 sitting senators, as well as seven substitutes.

“I’m sure that this CPI has some objectives and we will achieve them,” Romário said. “We know the problems that our football has experienced.

“Here are people who definitely want to set the record straight. They want to o..

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Tag: Sports integrity