SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with sports data provider Sportradar, to assist with Fraud Detection System assisting to combat match fixing in European sport.
Under the terms of the MoU, both parties will actively engage in the exchange of expertise, statistical data, information and/or trends as they relate to sporting integrity. Moreover, the two parties will now begin exploring projects that they can collaborate on or support each other on.
Right after the official MoU signing, Europol’s Deputy Director, Wil van Gemert said: “In order to try and stop match fixing stakeholders from many different areas need to work closely together. I look forward to our cooperation with Sportradar, and the aim is to make it more difficult for match fixers and manipulators to hide”.
Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl had this to add: “Europol have long played an active role in discussions, projects and investigations around the issue of match-fixing. The recent Operation VETO that they led with the involvement of police teams from 13 European countries identified 425 individuals suspected of fixing 380 matches across 15 countries! Their commitment to stamping this scourge out is self-evident. The fact that we have today signed this agreement to share information and collaborate on projects is a huge distinction for our Security Services and our Fraud Detection System. We are in little doubt that working together, in the spirit of the Macolin Convention, we will start making further breakthroughs and will continue closing the net on those who would undermine the credibility of the sports we all love and follow”.
