IBIA sets out sports betting event data best practice rules challenge

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has published a new set of standards governing sporting event data collection, inviting operators to sign up and comply with new best practice rules.

The sporting integrity body has said it is targeting three areas with the new guidelines, with any sporting data used for betting being collated and offered in a way which is accurate, responsibly sourced and protected against potential criminality.

The move follows discussions between the IBIA and industry stakeholders which highlighted a general lack of formal regulation and licensing in sports betting data collation and supply chain.

As result of these discussions, the IBIA has committed to promoting a sports betting data collection process that includes a set of minimum standards which can be adhered to and reported on.

“No data approach is infallible or immune from potential corruption, but measures can and should be taken to guard against such illicit activity and effective controls can minimise the associated risks,” the IBIA said.

Best practice standards include extensive personnel vetting and training of individuals involved in the sporting data collation process, with competency-based testing for all individuals working in the sector.

In addition all relevant parties should recognise a duty of care to ensure that any data collated and distributed is done in a transparent manner and that any data is robust, accurate and reliable.

Operators must also commit to upholding and protecting the reliability and credibility of sporting data, something which the IBIA have highlighted as being of “paramount importance” to maintaining integrity in sport.

Finally, the IBIA has partnered with compliance auditing firm eCOGRA on the development of a new IBIA Data Standards Kitemark, which will be given to all companies which sign up and who meet these exacting criteria.

“When we started this process I stated that upholding the reliability and credibility of sporting event data was of paramount importance for IBIA members and that the challenges posed by the pandemic had further highlighted the necessity for robust data chains,” IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said.

“The association believes that data collation is an important part of the wider sports betting integrity debate and this standards and auditing process, to be conducted by leading independent and internationally approved testing agency eCOGRA, represents the next step in the association’s work in this area.

“We call upon all of those parties engaged in the data collation process to demonstrate that they meet these standards and of their commitment to protecting the integrity of the global data supply chain,” Ali added.

Global sports data firm Stats Perform has already committed to fully implementing the new standards across its sports data portfolio, having joined the IBIA as an affiliate member earlier this year.