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MGA Rolls Out the Beta Phase of its Tool for Reporting Suspicious Betting
By Jeff Osienya Nov 26, 2020 IndustryTo stay in the frontline of waging war against match-fixing, the MGA has unveiled its Suspicious Betting Reporting Platform in an initial beta stage for all its licensed sportsbooks as it prepares for the official January 2021 debut.The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), the gaming regulator in Malta has rolled out the beta version of its new operator tool for reporting suspicious betting activities to ensure that all its license holders conduct spotless betting operations. This Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism (SBRM) has been launched by the watchdog’s Sports Integrity Unit and it will offer licensees a seamless platform to report any suspicious activities to MGA through a designated portal.
With this launch, the gaming ombudsman continues with its commitment to 2020’s roadmap of expanding the monitoring of gambling activities via the internet to ensure that they are running smoothly and with the desired level of integrity. Per MGA’s recent “Consultation Feedback & Guidance Paper in relation to Suspicious Betting Reporting Requirements & Other Sports Integrity Matters” report, one of the primary responsibilities of the regulator’s B2C sports betting licensees is to report any case of suspicious betting via MGA’s exclusive portal.
While the official debut date for the SBRM is set for 1st January next year, the beta version has already been launched, and it was ready for use by sportsbook operators by the 23rd of November. The objective of this beta launch, over 5 weeks prior to the January debut is to make adequate preparations for a seamless transition and give enough room for any changes that may be needed before the official launch. Early last month, the gaming watchdog published a dossier to guide sports betting operators through the process of registering and submitting any case of suspicious betting activity on the soon to be launched SBRM portal.
MGA Pushing Harder to Foster Integrity in the Sports Betting Industry
This year, the MGA has been advancing its efforts for the expansion of the systems and solutions to keep a close eye on the compliance of gambling activities. So far, on top of launching the SBRM, Malta’s gaming ombudsman has penned data-sharing agreements with the International Cricket Council, the Swedish Football Association, and World Snooker to strengthen its integrity network for sports.
Match-fixing has been a growing issue in the sports betting industry across Europe and the MGA has been ramping up its effort of late in the fight to eradicate the problem. The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has in the past issued a formal warning to the MGA instructing the regulator to introduce a clearer and more thorough framework for its technical systems to foster better sports integrity. After MGA’s action plan with the new SBRM, the IBIA welcomed the move and will without a doubt endorse the new toolkit for reporting suspicious betting activity when it goes live in January 2021.
A Worrying Surge in Match-Fixing Alerts
In October, the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) raised concern after reporting a total of 452 match-fixing alerts between July and September this year. The figure is quite alarming given that it more than doubled when compared to the same period in 2019. Of the 452 alerts in Q3 2020, 298 of them came from Europe whereas Asia followed with 71 alerts then North America, South America, Africa, and Oceania came in with 38, 26, 10, and 6 alerts respectively. Overall, 400 of the alerts were raised on the GLMS before the kick-off of matches whereas 10 arrived in-play and the remainder (42) were generated after the final whistle of the matches.
44 of the match-fixing incidents for Q3 2020 were unexplained and they required further investigation, with soccer being involved in 41 of these incidents. Overall, basketball followed soccer with 34 alerts, and the rest of the cases were reported for other sports including baseball, eSports, American Football, tennis, and ice hockey.
After the release of the match-fixing report, Ludovico Calvi, the president of the GLMS noted that the incidents could have drastically increased because of how badly the pandemic has affected the finances of vulnerable athletes and sports stakeholders. Earlier in August, Europol published a report which disclosed that match-fixing crime groups make more than $142.5 million from the vice every year.
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