Swedish Gambling Authority and IBIA join forces on betting integrity

Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA), and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sports betting integrity. It brings together the body responsible for ensuring that the Swedish gambling market is legal, safe and reliable, and the largest international betting integrity monitor of its type in the world.

The MoU will see both parties share information concerning suspicious betting activity identified on Swedish sport. IBIA represents the majority of the SGA licensed betting market, which leading industry data and intelligence company H2 Gambling Capital valued at SEK4,690m in sports betting GGR in 2022.

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “IBIA is delighted to have reached this agreement with the Swedish Gambling Authority. The association is focused on working closely with the SGA to maintain the integrity of Swedish sport and the regulated betting market. IBIA will utilise its global customer account transaction data to identify and report suspicious betting on Swedish sporting events to the SGA and engage in any related investigatory actions. Maintaining the integrity of the market is of paramount importance.”

Camilla Rosenberg, SGA Director-General, said: “It is very important to us that information is shared regarding suspicious betting activity in order to maintain the integrity of sports. Therefore, we are delighted to have reached this agreement with IBIA which will be beneficial to our coordination of the national platform and general work against match-fixing. We look forward to our cooperation with IBIA.”

In December 2023, the Swedish Government notified the European Commission that they intend to amend the Gambling Ordinance. The changes include proposals to make Sweden fully compliant with the Macolin Convention and for SGA to set up and run a platform for itself, licensed betting operators and national sports federations to share information about suspected match fixing.

IBIA is a globally recognized non-profit organization that seeks to guarantee integrity in the sports betting sector. Its membership includes nearly 50 companies and over 125 leading sports betting brands with over $137bn in betting turner per annum, making IBIA the world’s leading operator-run integrity monitoring body.

IBIA’s Q3 2023 integrity report detailed 50 alerts reported in the quarter; the association’s Q4 and annual report for 2023 will be published in the coming weeks. The association reported 268 alerts to the authorities in 2022, with successful sporting or criminal sanctions against 15 teams, officials or players where IBIA had reported suspicious activity on their matches.