Sweden’s gambling regulator announced on January 16th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). The IBIA is the largest non-profit organization on a global scale that monitors the integrity of sports betting.
The document pertains to the fairness of both sports and the act of wagering on sporting events, and with the agreement made, the IBIA and the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) will be able to exchange information on instances of suspicious betting activity. This partnership marks a significant leap for online sports betting in Sweden, seeing as most entities that have obtained a betting license by the Swedish watchdog are IBIA members. At present, member sportsbooks include Bet365, LeoVegas, Betsafe, and other industry giants that entertain punters in Sweden and across the globe.
IBIA CEO Khalid Ali commemorated the agreement and put a stress on the association’s aim of ensuring the integrity of Swedish sports by collaborating with the SGA. He drew focus on how transaction data that the IBIA has access to will be useful, as it will allow the association to report discrepancies to the regulator so that proper investigatory actions can be taken.
The SGA’s Director-General Camilla Rosenberg also issued a statement on the matter and expressed the SGA’s delight in working with the IBIA. According to her, it is of crucial importance that information regarding suspicious betting activity be shared if the regulator is to “maintain the integrity of sports.”
How Reports Will be Carried Out
The document’s goal is to ensure that both parties will be able to extend their efforts in more efficiently dealing with issues that could impact matches involving Swedish teams, whether in Sweden or abroad, as well as sporting events that are held in the country. The specific type of data that will be shared will include the name of the event, which teams are participating, information on the location of betting accounts, and other data, with IBIA members being obligated to forward any problematic discoveries to the association. Moreover, as per the agreement, the SGA will be permitted to request further information from the IBIA when necessary.
Personal data of clients who place bets at IBIA-member sportsbooks will not be processed by the IBIA, however. In addition, after the IBIA has received a report by an operator and determined that the information suggests unlawful actions, the association will then need to notify the SGA.
This agreement is similar to those the IBIA has made with a variety of other gambling watchdogs. In a report published last October, the association revealed that it had forwarded a total of 50 alerts to their regulatory bodies during Q3 of 2023. The report showed that Europe was the region where the biggest number (60%) of suspicious activity was detected. In addition, Q2 2023 was just as productive, as the reported total number of alerts was the same as Q3.
