A website aimed at tackling betting-related corruption in sport was launched last month. The Sports Betting Integrity Forum website is aimed at the risks associated with match fixing, so as to protect sports betting integrity in the UK.
It features a range of best practice products and resources – including examples of education and prevention strategies, models of best practice and case studies and relevant research and reports. Progress reports on the delivery of the Sports and Sports Betting Action Plan will be published there.
Nick Tofiluk, Gambling Commission director of regulation, a former senior West Midlands Police man, said: “We have already taken some very positive steps in Britain to address the risks to the integrity of sport and sports betting. I’m delighted that what we have achieved so far, along with our plans for the future is now accessible to all, in one place, via the SBIF website”
Tracey Crouch, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Department for Culture, Media and Sport, added: “The integrity of sport is absolutely paramount and we have to do all that we can to protect it. The Sports Betting Integrity Action Plan is about ensuring that Britain remains a safe place to bet on sport and to tackle any threat of corruption that emerges. We cannot be complacent. The Gambling Commission, sports bodies, law enforcement agencies and betting operators are all well aligned on this with effective collaboration vital in the fight against match fixing.”
Integrity of sport is included in the December 2015 policy paper ‘Sporting Future‘, from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. It says: “The integrity of sport has been called into question by a number of high profile sporting scandals in recent years. This has mainly centered on the use of performance enhancing drugs, match-fixing or alleged bribery and corruption within sportingorganisations. Ensuring the integrity of sport is a central part of getting sport to deliver the maximum value for the public. If the public cannot trust that a sport or sporting event is legitimate, it loses its power to inspire. If athletes cannot be sure that their opponents are drug free or feel that results are being manipulated, they may stop being motivated to succeed …”
Threats to sporting integrity include as set out in the document doping of athletes, manipulation of results, and corruption; hence the forum. The 84-page document says: “While we respect the autonomy of sport, we recognise that there are some major failings within some parts of the international sporting landscape and that much more needs to be done for sport to retain, or in some cases repair, its integrity.”
The Sports Betting Integrity Forum (the Forum) (SBIF), originally called the Tripartite Forum, was set up in 2012.
Pictured: the statue near West Ham FC to honour the Hammers’ 1966 World Cup-winning players.
