ESSA and Victoria Police to combat match-fixing in new agreement

The European Sports Security Association (ESSA) and Victoria Police signed a letter of agreement to combat match-fixing.

As part of the agreement, 2018 sporting events in Victoria including the Australian Open tennis will come under the radar. Police will receive real-time betting alerts from ESSA on sporting events Australia-wide should any matches exhibit suspicious betting activity.

These alerts will then be sent to the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit. However, ESSA will not be able to access any law enforcement data.

ESSA secretary general Khalid Ali said: “Our cooperation arrangement with Victoria Police is an important cog in our global outreach and further highlights the international momentum and partnership working which is increasingly gathering pace between responsible stakeholders.

“This agreement sends a clear message of both parties’ desire to address an issue that blights the enjoyment of fans of both sport and betting.”

Detective superintendent Peter Brigham said: “We often refer to Melbourne as Australia’s sporting capital, however with that title comes a level of risk in relation to sports betting. It is a massive business and in such a lucrative market there is always the potential for corruption.

“A number of ESSA members facilitate betting on Victorian events, however have no presence within Australia. This means that police such as our Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit investigators have limited ability to contact these betting agencies directly when making enquiries into suspicious betting activity on local sporting events.”