Betfair to Share Information with IOC Regarding Potentially Suspect Gambling at London 2012

Betfair, the world’s largest betting exchange, has agreed a deal with the International Olympic Committee to share information with the governing body on potentially suspect gambling at this year’s London Olympics.

Britain’s Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said earlier this month the integrity of the Games could be shattered by the “enormous” threat of illegal gambling rings trying to fix results.

Betfair said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IOC laying out plans to co-operate and share customer and transactional data should suspicious activity be detected on an Olympic event.

“The interests of sports governing bodies, like the IOC, and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner,” Betfair’s Chief Legal & Regulatory Affairs Officer Martin Cruddace said in a statement on Thursday.

Betfair said its integrity team monitors its systems for signs of suspicious activity, tracking every bet placed using specialised software which identifies suspicious bets.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has spoken of the danger illegal gambling rings pose to the Games.

The issue of sports betting corruption was brought to the fore last year when former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif were jailed after being found guilty of taking bribes to fix parts of a test match against England in 2010.

Earlier on Thursday, a former English county cricketer pleaded guilty to taking money to fix part of a match.