IOC or International Olympic Committee and UEFA for betting and IFs or International Federations organized a joint collaboration. Its focus is protecting sports betting integrity through cross-sector partnership.
The full-day workshop was held on April 11 at Olympic House in Lausanne. Both the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the UEFA EURO 2024 are on the horizon. It provided an opportunity to align the approaches of sports organizations and betting entities. Learn from each other and strengthen partnerships for an efficient information exchange before and during these major events.
Many IFs attended the meeting. They wanted to share their experiences and aimed to connect with the betting sector. They hoped to acquire new insights on the latest trends in sports betting for their own events.
Outlining respective strategies and monitoring systems to detect irregularities and cheating was the first part of the day. It also featured presentations. The OM Unit PMC, or Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions, gave one. UEFA’s Anti-Match-Fixing Unit gave another.
Set up in 2017, the OM Unit PMC oversees the implementation of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions. It is overseen by sports organizations. It follows a three-pillar strategy. These focuses on Regulation and Legislation, Awareness Raising and Capacity Building, and Intelligence and Investigations.
The OM Unit PMC, through its IBIS (Integrity Betting Intelligence System), works with many partners. They monitor sports betting on all competitions 24/7 during the Olympic Games. This will also be the case this summer for Paris 2024. A lot of betting operators shared how they cooperate with the IOC on suspicious cases during the workshop.
Head of the OM Unit PMC, Friedrich Martens said that collaboration is essential. According to him, during the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, they will work together with a series of betting operators, associations, and major betting regulatory authorities. The goal is to exchange relevant information about irregular betting patterns or suspicious betting activities detected. This collaboration aims to address potential competition manipulation.
