RGA DEEMS BETTING INTEGRITY SEMINAR CONSTRUCTIVE
03/22/2012 : RGA DEEMS BETTING INTEGRITY SEMINAR CONSTRUCTIVE
Stakeholders will subscribe to an agreed Statement of Intent
The Betting Integrity Stakeholder Seminar held in London Tuesday was hailed as informative and constructive by the Remote Gambling Association and attendees from the UK Gambling Commission, Olympic authorities and the betting industry.
A Statement of Intent (SOI) was agreed to by the betting industry to which it will subscribe during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The principles of the SOI will require that betting industry signatories located in other jurisdictions, other than the United Kingdom, will report suspicious betting activities to the Joint Assessment Unit. UK operators are already required by law to do so.
SOI signatories have additionally agreed not to knowingly accept bets from International Olympic Committee accredited individuals and have undertaken to man their monitoring systems on a 24 hour basis over the duration of the Games.
Mike O’Kane, Ladbrokes business director and head bookmaker at the European Sports Security Association, who chaired the meeting, said: “The afternoon was very constructive with all involved getting to grips with how we can work together to limit any threat of betting-related corruption during London 2012.
"From the betting industry’s point of view, we explained how we will, as is often typical, go above and beyond our statutory duties. By remaining vigilant and having expert monitoring systems and robust reporting processes, the regulated betting industry is confident there is little risk of betting corruption posed on our legal licensed markets.
"While it is true that the industry has seen no instances of betting-related integrity breaches in past Olympics, working collaboratively with the Joint Assessment Unit gives us the best chance of ensuring the integrity of the London 2012 Games is not threatened by betting. In this regard, the seminar has proved invaluable.”
Nick Tofiluk, head of regulation at the Gambling Commission, added: "The Gambling Commission’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU), the IOC and the Metropolitan Police will be operating a Joint Assessment Unit during the period of the games to assess and investigate any allegations or suspicions of wrongdoing in regard to sports betting integrity.
“This was a very constructive event and we welcome the support of The European Sports Security Association (ESSA) to our Games times planning on sports betting integrity – sports authorities, law enforcement agencies and the legal betting industry here and abroad are working together to counter the threat.”
Stakeholders who attended the seminar and have agreed to the Statement of Intent comprise: the IOC, the UK Gambling Commission, the British Olympic Association, The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the European Sports Security Association, the Remote Gambling Association, the Association of British Bookmakers, the European Gaming and Betting Association, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Betfair, Corals and William Hill.
