SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
ESSA has entered into a formal information sharing arrangement with The R&A, event organisers for The Open Championship. The agreement is a precautionary measure, with the aim of detecting and deterring any betting-related corruption at the oldest golf tournament in the world.
ESSA will employ its alert and reporting system, covering regulated markets from each of its members. Considering they work with the likes of bet365, William Hill, Sky Bet and Ladbrokes, the tournament will benefit from a heightened level of security around suspicious betting patterns and any potential corruption.
Mike O’Kane, Chairman of ESSA, stated: “ESSA and its members believe that maintaining the integrity of any sporting event is fundamental to its future, and we are committed to doing all we can to help to uphold the core spirit of sport and fair play.
“Golf is founded on such principles and there are few global sporting events bigger than The Open. ESSA is therefore delighted that The R&A has agreed to work with us to protect this historic international sporting event.”
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “Golf has so far not been confronted by the same issues that many other sports have come up against. We cannot be complacent however, and we want to do all we can to protect The Open and the values for which golf is known throughout the world.
“Our arrangement with ESSA, whose members include many recognised international betting operators with access to detailed market data and a commitment to protecting sport, will allow us to effectively monitor betting on the Championship.”
The Open Championship has a history stretching back to 1860, and remains one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar with a large global television audience and significant betting interest.
