The betting industry will work with the Gambling Commission and the Olympic authorities to help prevent betting-related corruption during the games in London this year.
Representatives from the betting industry, the Gambling Commission and the Olympic authorities came together as a group for the first time yesterday at the Betting Integrity Stakeholder Seminar to discuss how the industry could work with the Joint Assessment Unit to minimise any threat of betting-related corruption.
During the seminar, the betting industry agreed to a statement of intent to which it will subscribe during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Betting operators licensed in the UK are already required to report suspicious betting patterns to the Gambling Commission and under these principles signatories located in other jurisdictions will also report information to the Joint Assessment Unit.
Operators have also agreed not to knowingly take bets from IOC accredited individuals and to ensure that monitoring systems are manned 24/7 during the games.
Mike O’Kane, Ladbrokes business director and head bookmaker at the European Sports Security Association, chaired the meeting:
“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.”
