ESSA Re-Brands As International Betting Integrity Association

Betting integrity body ESSA (originally the European Sports Security Association) has relaunched as the International Betting Integrity Association with immediate effect.

The move highlights the association’s desire to better reflect the global debate around betting and integrity issues and their leading role in that discussion. The association will continue to represent many of the largest regulated sports betting operators in the world with almost 50 brands feeding into its monitoring and alert platform.

Khalid Ali, Secretary General of the International Betting Integrity Association, said: “The new name communicates who we are, what we do and where we want to be. The association has been active across six continents in recent years, with almost half of our alerts coming from outside of Europe. This activity will only increase as gambling markets around the world continue to open up to regulation.”

He added: “The debate is global and our strategic focus must evolve in line with that.”

Established in 2005, the association has many of the world’s largest regulated betting operators as members. It has longstanding information-sharing partnerships with leading sports bodies including FIFA, UEFA, and the IOC and many gambling regulators.

Jon Russell, Non-Executive Chair of the association’s Board and Head of Global Trading at Betway, said: “Our members represent a sizeable part of the worldwide regulated betting market and their business strategies reflect global ambitions. Integrity has become a key regulatory issue in that market debate, with membership of a monitoring body a licensing requirement in some cases.”

Russell added: “Betting and integrity are now inseparable and I encourage all responsible operators to join us and take advantage of the multifaceted business benefits membership brings.”