Background
The past few years has seen a significant increase in awareness and reporting of sports betting integrity issues, particularly in the higher profile sports, which have been well documented. Evidence of corrupt betting in the UK has been in the main limited to what appear to be discrete cases, opportunistic in nature, rather than being evidence of systematic and systemic corruption. However, we cannot afford to be complacent in thinking that UK sports betting and sport is immune from the continued threats of organised criminal activity.
In 2009, DCMS established a Sports Betting Integrity Panel, drawing together representatives of the betting industry, the police, players, sports governing bodies (SGBs), the legal profession and the Commission to make recommendations on the design and implementation of a collaborative approach to protect the integrity of UK sport and betting.
The Panel’s report, commonly known as the Parry Report, made a series of recommendations, central to which was that the betting industry, sports governing bodies and associations, the Commission and police should commit to activity within their sphere of competency to prevent and deter those posing the threats. In addition, the report recognised how a collaborative approach could maximise the collective impact by working together to deal with the short and longer term issues. The recommendations included establishing the Sports Betting Intelligence Unit within the Commission to deal with reports of betting-related corruption.
Building on outcomes of the Parry Report, the Sports Betting Integrity Forum (SBIF) was established in 2012 to develop Britain's approach to protecting sport and sports betting against the risks to integrity. It brings together representatives from sports governing bodies, betting operators, sport and betting trade associations, law enforcement and gambling regulation. The Forum is part of Britain's national platform to address the risks of match-fixing and threats to sports betting integrity.
The purpose of the Forum is to support and coordinate partners' individual and collective efforts in developing and implementing the Sport and Sports Betting Integrity Action Plan (PDF) (opens in a new tab) (SBI Plan) which sets out the UK’s strategy for protecting integrity in sport and sports betting. The Forum keeps pace with the increasing complexities, such as international influences, focusing on prevention, disruption and deterrents. This approach reflects the belief that match-fixing presents a major and continuing challenge for the governance, culture, reputation and operational capabilities of sports and sports betting operators. The Commission provides the secretariat for SBIF.
The UK has also signed the Council of Europe’s Macolin Convention, which sets out the framework for managing risks associated with the manipulation of sporting events across Europe and beyond. In line with this framework, the SBIU and the SBIF form Britain’s national platform for managing betting integrity. The Commission represents the UK on the Council of Europe’s Group of Copenhagen (opens in a new tab), the network of national platforms which collaborates in the fight against betting integrity at an international level.
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Last updated: 29 April 2024
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Following an audit the 'Sport and Sports Betting Integrity Action Plan' link has been updated. Text updated.