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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/gambling/0,3800010160,39127620,00.htm

Betfair and UEFA clean up football
With integrity under fire it's a bookie that comes to the rescue...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Friday 04 February 2005

With gambling apparently playing an increasing role in the corruption of major sports, online betting exchange Betfair has announced a memorandum of understanding with UEFA to monitor patterns in football betting and ensure the integrity of results and contests.

Under the terms of the agreement UEFA will get access to gambling data and be able to identify individuals involved in any suspicious betting activity.

Betfair runs a dedicated anti-fraud team within its London headquarters where any suspicious bets or unusual patterns of activity are flagged up.

Lars-Christer Olsson, CEO of UEFA, said the Betfair deal is "an important step forward in ensuring the continued integrity of our competitions".

"This is in line with our permanent efforts to protect the game from match-fixing and will facilitate the gathering of information in case of suspicious results."

Recently corruption in football has been back in the spotlight following revelations of match-fixing by referees in Germany's Bundesliga.

Last year horse racing was rocked by serious allegations of race-fixing. In that latter instance it was once again information made available by Betfair which aided an effective investigation.

Stephen Hill, CEO of Betfair, said: "We are delighted to be able to add this agreement to those we already have with the governing bodies of sport. Working closely with sporting regulators, and allowing them access to the information we have, is the best way to ensure that sport is kept free of crime."

Unlike fixed odds bookies which always have a liability, Betfair has no vested interest in the outcome of any sporting event. Win, lose or draw, Betfair's take remains the same as its users are trading bets with other users.

"Our interests are absolutely in line with those who run the events," said Hill. "This is good news for the integrity of sport."