International Betting Integrity Association

Safeguarding sport starts with the athletes on the field Integrity education is most effective when it reflects the real situations players may face and the decisions that can influence the course of their careers. That was the focus of the in-person training delivered by IBIA and Genius Sports to athletes across all nine Canadian Football League teams. That player-centred approach was supported by IBIA Education Ambassador Jean-François Reymond, a former professional athlete who understands the pressures and dynamics players face. The sessions helped players understand how integrity risks can appear in real life, from match-fixing approaches and the misuse of inside information to suspicious betting activity. For Dawson Pierre of the BC Lions Football, that focus on real-life examples was the key takeaway. He said the seminar helped players understand “what other athletes have gone through”, how to “stay away from that kind of trouble” and why gambling-related risks are “not worth losing your career over”. As he put it: “This seminar can play a big part in saving someone’s career.” That is the value of prevention-led education. It makes the risks clear before they escalate by giving athletes the confidence to make the right decisions and helps protect players, teams and the integrity of the sport. For more information about the CFL training sessions, check out our website: https://lnkd.in/evqsPBGu

IBIA at the IAGA Summit Matt Fowler, IBIA’s Head of Global Operations, will be attending the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) Summit in Sarasota from 2-4 June, where he will speak on Wednesday morning as part of the session “Protecting Integrity in Football: Lessons from Betting Cases.” The discussion will look at betting-related integrity risks in football, recent cases, and the role of collaboration between sports bodies, regulated betting operators and regulators in protecting the integrity of sport. Matt will be available throughout the Summit for conversations with regulators, operators and sports stakeholders working across betting integrity, information-sharing and coordinated approaches to safeguarding sport. Get in touch!

Educating CFL athletes before an integrity risk becomes a case. Effective integrity protection starts with education on the pitch. That is why IBIA and Genius Sports delivered an in-person integrity training programme for athletes across all nine Canadian Football League teams, including Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta, ahead of the province’s launch of a new licensing model for sports betting and gaming on 13 July. The sessions focused on practical scenarios athletes may face, including match-fixing approaches, misuse of inside information and suspicious betting activity. The training included IBIA’s 3Rs approach: ⚖️ Rules 🤝 Responsibility 📣 Report The goal is clear: to give athletes the knowledge and confidence to recognise risks, resist approaches and report concerns through the right channels. This work forms part of a CAD $300,000 commitment by IBIA and its members FanDuel, bet365 and Betway Global to strengthen integrity education and prevention measures in Canadian sport. That is the value of taking integrity education into the room: turning rules into practical understanding, and making prevention part of the sporting environment before problems arise. More information about the CFL training programme: https://lnkd.in/evqsPBGu

🤝Strengthening integrity requires the right stakeholders around the same table. IBIA participated in Spillkonferansen 2026 in Norway, where this year’s focus was match-fixing. IBIA was represented by Antonio Abdilla Zerafa, Regulatory Affairs Manager, who brought the regulated betting integrity perspective to a wider discussion with speakers from sport, politics, research, industry and communications. Match-fixing is a cross-border threat. Suspicious betting activity rarely sits neatly within one market or jurisdiction. Effective prevention depends on clear regulation, trusted information-sharing and practical cooperation between licensed operators, regulators, sports bodies and other stakeholders. IBIA’s role is to bring operator intelligence into that collective response. Through the Global Monitoring & Alert Platform (Global MAP), IBIA members contribute data and market insight that support the detection, assessment and reporting of suspicious betting activity across regulated markets. That intelligence-led approach matters because it connects what operators see in betting markets with the broader response required from sports bodies, regulators and law enforcement. Thank you to Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, Secretary General of the Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill – NBO, for convening this important discussion. Effective integrity protection depends on more than detection alone. It requires trusted collaboration, clear reporting channels and the ability to turn betting intelligence into practical action.   

🎾 From suspicious betting alerts to disciplinary action The The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has announced the resolution of its cases against Jasel Beltre and Lu Pengyu under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Beltre has been suspended for 20 years and fined US$55,000 for 20 breaches relating to 11 tennis matches. Lu Pengyu has been suspended for six years and fined US$25,000 for 11 breaches, including the fixing of three matches and refusal to co-operate with an ITIA investigation. Suspicious betting activity linked to matches involving Beltre and Lu was reported by IBIA and its members through the Global Monitoring & Alert Platform (MAP), forming part of the intelligence used in the cases. These outcomes underline the importance of cooperation between regulated betting operators and sporting integrity bodies in turning suspicious betting alerts into disciplinary action. Effective integrity protection depends on trusted collaboration, clear information-sharing and coordinated action. 🔗 Read ITIA’s full announcement: https://lnkd.in/e6bpruqr

Supporting Chile’s next phase of online betting regulation IBIA is pleased to share that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with aPAL, the Chilean Association of Online Betting Platforms (Agrupación Chilena de plataformas de apuestas en línea). As aPAL representative Carlos Baeza notes, Chile is at an important point in the development of its online betting framework. The priority now is a clear and modern regulatory model that protects consumers, supports a viable licensed market and safeguards the integrity of sport. The agreement brings together IBIA’s global betting integrity expertise and aPAL’s local industry knowledge as discussions continue on the future regulatory framework for online betting in Chile. Through this collaboration, IBIA and aPAL will share information on regulatory, political and social developments, exchange experience from established regulated markets, and support approaches that balance consumer protection, market sustainability and sports integrity. For IBIA, the focus is practical. Effective regulation is not only about creating a legal market. It is about building a system with clear rules, strong integrity measures, reliable information-sharing and cooperation between operators, regulators, policymakers and sport. We look forward to working with aPAL to support the ongoing regulatory discussions and contribute to a well-regulated online betting market in Chile. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eGHbHu-N

From alert to action: the power of operator intelligence in uncovering corruption It begins with data — but it does not end there. IBIA’s Global Monitoring & Alert Platform (MAP) analyses betting activity across more than 1.5 million sporting events and over $300bn in annual turnover, using operator intelligence to identify suspicious betting patterns.  When an irregularity is detected, it is flagged as an alert. But the real value lies in what sits behind that alert: account-level records that help show how suspicious activity developed, whether it forms part of a wider pattern, and how it can support further investigation. Through IBIA’s network of operators, this intelligence is cross-checked and analysed before being shared with sports bodies, regulators and law enforcement, enabling coordinated investigation and enforcement. Through this process, IBIA data has contributed to 54 matches being confirmed as corrupted in 2025 and has supported sanctions against players, teams and officials across five sports.  Integrity protection starts with detection, but it cannot stop there. When backed by data, expertise and collaboration, individual alerts can become meaningful intelligence that drives action to safeguard sport and sports betting.  

Preparing integrity protections for the 2026 FIFA World Cup    IBIA was pleased to take part in the recent FIFA Integrity Task Force meeting in Miami, where stakeholders came together to strengthen coordination and test operational readiness ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States and the United States.  As part of the programme, IBIA delivered its betting market risk assessment for the FWC26, alongside a separate presentation examining the global betting landscape. This included analysis of emerging consumer betting products, as well as on unregulated betting activity, with a focus on the associated integrity risks and challenges.  Major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup are typically viewed as low risk from a sports betting integrity standpoint. Yet with unprecedented global betting volumes expected around the tournament, robust preparation remains critical to ensure integrity frameworks are ready to respond effectively if required. Strong integrity systems are aligned in advance by bringing together stakeholders with different visibility across the integrity landscape, and making sure roles, reporting lines and escalation procedures are clear before the competition begins. That is what effective tournament integrity requires: preparation built on trusted collaboration, clear reporting lines and the ability to act quickly when suspicious activity is identified. For a tournament of this scale, readiness is not a final check. It is the foundation of effective integrity protection, and IBIA is pleased to support that work through the FIFA Integrity Task Force. 

IBIA registered as integrity monitor in Alberta Ahead of Alberta’s regulated iGaming and sports betting market opening in July, IBIA has registered to provide integrity services in the province. This means integrity monitoring will be part of the framework from day one. This is a very good practice for how regulated betting markets should develop: with clear obligations for operators, trusted information sharing and practical systems in place to identify and escalate suspicious betting activity. Through our Global Monitoring & Alert Platform (MAP), IBIA will support that process by drawing on operator intelligence and account-level data to help assess, detect and report suspicious betting activity. To help connect betting-market intelligence with sport integrity action, IBIA will work alongside the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission, notifying the agency when activity is assessed as suspicious.  We are pleased to support Alberta as it opens its regulated market and to contribute to safeguarding sport and regulated sports betting in the province. Operators seeking an Alberta licence are encouraged to contact us to discuss how IBIA can support compliance and integrity objectives in the new market.

Strengthening sports betting integrity requires collaboration across the ecosystem Safeguarding betting integrity depends on cooperation because no single stakeholder sees the full picture. Operators can identify irregular betting patterns, regulators set and enforce market rules, sports bodies understand competition-level risks, and payment providers can help identify and disrupt the financial flows that facilitate illegal betting and wider corruption. That is why cross-stakeholder initiatives matter. One example is IBIA’s South America Integrity Working Group in Brazil, which brought together regulators, sports bodies and leading licensed betting operators to strengthen coordinated action against match-fixing as the market continues to develop. The discussions included contributions from Fabio Macorin and Giovanni Rocco from Brazil’s public authorities, Graciela Garay and Jorge David Ojeda Ramirez from CONMEBOL, Renato Renatino from the Federação Paulista de Futebol, Tiago Horta Barbosa from Genius Sports and Ed Birkin from H2 Gambling Capital. The message is clear: integrity cannot be protected in isolation. When these stakeholders work together, risks can be identified faster, and sport can be better protected. A coordinated, cross-sector approach is essential to safeguarding the integrity of sport and regulated betting.