UK takes steps to combat dodgy betting; Sportradar ink Thai Premier League

gambling-commission-abb-sportradarFresh off this week’s shenanigans involving bets placed on a ‘phantom’ football match that never actually took place, the UK Gambling Commission has taken a couple steps to increase its vigilance over possible instances of betting chicanery. The Commission has announced plans to team with the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) and independent charity Crimestoppers to further scrutinize suspicious betting activity and threats of match- and race-fixing.

On Friday, the Commission announced plans to reduce the risk of potential conflicts of interest when betting traders observe suspicious betting behavior. A horserace this January alerted the Commission to the risks of operators accepting wagers based on “advantageous commercial intelligence.” The specific instance involved a trader spotting Barney Curley’s latest betting ‘coup’ developing, which led to the trader placing his own wager with another operator, who subsequently asked the Commission for permission to void the trader’s bet. The Commission said there was no evidence of cheating or fraud but suggested tweaks could be made to reduce the possibility of cheating and also to protect operators’ commercial interests.

The ABB has agreed to consider a change to employment terms and conditions that would require traders to act first and foremost in the interests of the employer. The ABB is working with its members to develop a template that will ensure consistency across the industry. The ABB has also implemented changes to betting T&C’s to make the contravention of sports or other professional or employer rules on betting a breach of the operator’s betting T&C’s. The latter change was originally proposed by the ABB back in 2010 but referred strictly to sports rules.

The Commission has also invited Crimestoppers to pass on public tips on “gambling-related criminality or corruption” to the Commission’s Intelligence Unit at the same time said tips are given to the police. Commission Director of Regulation Nick Tofiluk said he was “delighted” with the new arrangement, which will ensure fixing is “tackled quickly and robustly.”

Elsewhere, sports betting data supplier Sportradar has followed up the recent renewal of its fraud detection deal with CONCACAF by inking a deal to monitor the Thai Premier League. Sportradar will deploy its Fraud Detection System for all 380 games during the Thai league’s 2014 campaign. League president Ong-Arj Kosinkar said it was important for the increasingly popular Asian football association “to ensure that its competition can be trusted and enjoyed by fans.”