In combating sports betting-related fraud in Columbia, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the country’s Federation of Entrepreneurs of Games of Luck and Chance (FECOLJUEGOS).

The organisation has also stated that it will establish projects and initiatives in looking to protect the integrity of sports and sports betting companies.

 “We are happy to collaborate with Fecoljuegos on common projects in the fight against match-fixing,” commented Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA.

“The establishment of the Colombian National Committee for the prevention of manipulation of sports competitions is the first of its kind in the Latin American region. Fecoljuegos played an important role in its launch and we fully support the call for integrity provisions to be included in the gambling legislation’. 

Its previous data has played a ‘key role’ in supporting the investigations, prosecutions, and sanctioning of parties involved in match-fixing, mitigating and preventing the possibilities of this type of practice.

IBIA is a global voice on integrity for the licensed sports betting industry with its account-based integrity monitoring system covering over US$137bn in betting transactions per annum.

Last year, data revealed that those suspicious betting activities reported by IBIA to relevant authorities helped in issuing sporting or criminal sanctions against 11 teams or players. 

IBIA reported 121 alerts to relevant authorities in Latin America between 2017 and 2021, with a total of nine alerts regarding suspicious matches taking place in Colombia – eight concerning tennis and one for football.

Evert Montero Cárdenas, President of Fecoljuegos, considered the news as an important step for the sector in Colombia that ‘reaffirms the industry’s commitment in this matter’.

He concluded: “With great expectation we receive this memorandum which establishes an agreement of wills, we believe that this is an important step to shield the activity from irregular practices that have affected it for years. 

“Partnering with IBIA is surely something that guarantees higher standards of integrity, which represents an advantage for the legal industry in the country.”