IBIA joins forces with Fecoljuegos to combat sports-related fraud and match-fixing
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and Fecoljuegos to try and curb the amount of suspicious betting activity in Colombia.
Between 2017 and 2021, the IBIA detected 121 suspicious betting acts in Latin America, with nine of those alerts related to suspicious matches taking place in Colombia (eight tennis matches and one football game).
The Latin American market is a very lucrative one, according to figures produced by H2 Gambling Capital. Total gross betting wins in 2021 across Latin America was worth $1.9bn (£1.45bn), with projections indicating that this number could reach $3.5bn by 2026.
The gross betting win in Colombia was estimated at $808m in 2021 and could reach $1.1bn by 2026.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “We are happy to collaborate with Fecoljuegos on common projects in the fight against match-fixing. The establishment of the Colombian National Committee for the prevention of manipulation of sports competitions is the first of its kind in the Latin American region.
“Fecoljuegos played an important role in its launch, and we fully support the call for integrity provisions to be included in the gambling legislation,” Ali added.
President of Fecoljuegos, Evert Montero Cárdenas, said: “With great expectation, we receive this memorandum which establishes an agreement of wills. We believe that this is an important step to shield the activity from irregular practices that have affected it for years.
“Partnering with IBIA is surely something that guarantees higher standards of integrity, which represents an advantage for the legal industry in the country,” he added.
This agreement comes soon after the IBIA and the Canadian Gaming Association signed an MoU to combat the same issue of match-fixing and uphold integrity in Canada.