Criminal or civil prosecutions

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to ask for the following information:

Details, to include date of charge, details of charge (i.e. section [X] of [Y] Act) and date of hearing, of all corruption related criminal or civil prosecutions brought or assisted by the Gambling Commission's Sports Betting Integrity Unit from between the years of 2005 to 2023 inclusive. The request is intended to include any successful and unsuccessful prosecution and/or matters that were charged however did not progress to trial. Parties' names are not essential however confirmation of which sport the charges relate and whether the prosecution was successful would be useful.

The information is requested as part of research for a Masters dissertation relating to sports integrity, specifically combating corruption.

I would like you to provide the information in the format of an Excel spreadsheet.

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In your email you have requested:

Details, to include date of charge, details of charge (i.e. section [X] of [Y] Act) and date of hearing, of all corruption related criminal or civil prosecutions brought or assisted by the Gambling Commission's Sports Betting Integrity Unit from between the years of 2005 to 2023 inclusive. The request is intended to include any successful and unsuccessful prosecution and/or matters that were charged however did not progress to trial. Parties' names are not essential however confirmation of which sport the charges relate and whether the prosecution was successful would be useful.

For context, the Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) is a unit within the Gambling Commission, set up in 2010. It works closely with the betting industry, sport governing bodies, and the police to understand potential threats and help protect the integrity of sport and betting.

The SBIU collect information and develop intelligence about potentially corrupt betting activity involving sport. They receive information from a number of sources including reports from the betting industry about suspicious activity on betting markets, concerns from sport governing bodies or tip-offs from members of the public.

Where appropriate the SBIU will share specific information with other partners, (for example, bookmakers, sport governing bodies, overseas regulators, law enforcement agencies, etc) both nationally and internationally. In some cases, this information is used by these bodies in their investigations, for example a sport governing body investigating a breach of their sports rules or codes.

I can confirm that the Gambling Commission does not hold information falling within the scope of your request. Whilst the SBIU does share information with partner agencies in relation to corruption, they do not record the outcomes resulting from this sharing of information. This is the responsibility of the agency receiving said information to document the resulting actions.

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.

Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.

The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP