Finnish Center For Integrity In Sports partners with Sportradar Integrity Services

Sportradar Integrity Services, a unit of Sportradar and a global supplier of sport integrity solutions and partner to over 150 sports federations and leagues, has entered an agreement with the Finnish Center For Integrity In Sports (FINCIS) to monitor Finnish domestic sporting competitions, commencing from September 2022. This extends Sportradar’s integrity partnerships portfolio with state authorities and national platform bodies, which includes organisations such as the Swedish gambling authority (Spelinspektionen) and the Estonian Centre for Integrity in Sports (ESTCIS).

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Sportradar Integrity Services will provide bet monitoring and reporting for a multitude of sports using its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS). Approximately 5,000 fixtures will be monitored across domestic Finnish sport, including bandy, basketball, floorball, futsal, handball, ice hockey, MMA, pesapallo, soccer, and volleyball.

The UFDS is an advanced and proven bet monitoring system that has been independently assessed and verified by recognized experts in the field of sports betting and integrity. Betting patterns are analysed for abnormalities by a global team of qualified integrity experts, and any suspicious matches are subsequently reported to partners, allowing critical visibility into worldwide match-fixing. Sportradar Integrity Services have detected over 7,300 suspicious matches during the past 17 years with more than 600 of these taking place in 2022 alone. The Integrity Services business is a core piece of Sportradar’s larger business portfolio, which includes providing data and technology to media companies, betting operators and federations, and reflects the company’s belief that sports must be played on a level playing field.

Chief Investigative Officer Jouko Ikonen said: “Everyone has the right to fair play and fighting against competition manipulation is one of FINCIS’s main tasks. The Sportradar collaboration brings us a significant additional advantage, namely betting on men’s, women’s, and youth matches and competitions are monitored with UFDS. Sportradar has a proven track record in the sports integrity industry, and their expert bet monitoring capabilities will play a crucial role in helping to protect the integrity of Finnish sport in the years ahead.”

Sportradar Integrity Services Managing Director Andreas Krannich added: “We are delighted to be joining forces with FINCIS to play our part in helping to protect the integrity of sports in Finland. At Sportradar, we have identified growing integrity threats across a variety of sports in recent years, with the global financial situation likely to increase the risks facing many sports. As such, to sign another key partnership with a national platform in Europe, in line with the framework of the Council of Europe’s Macolin Convention, is something we take great pride in. We look forward to supporting FINCIS’ integrity programme in the coming years”.