IBIA urges Latam to follow Brazil example on sporting integrity frameworks
The organisation wants regulators in the region to priortise the fight against match-fixing, citing Brazil as the blueprint to follow
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has called for regulators in Latam to turn their focus towards creating a “robust sports betting integrity ecosystem” to help combat match-fixing.
IBIA referenced the Brazilian market, whereby licensed sports betting operators are obligated to join an independent integrity monitoring body, as a “template that should be replicated across the Latam region”.
Brazil is set to go live with its regulated online sports betting and igaming market later this year after the framework was approved by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last December.
The government is currently working through a host of final touches to the framework, with the details set to be confirmed by the end of July.
Over the last five years, IBIA has reported 127 cases of suspicious betting to authorities across Latam.
The organisation also estimates that it accounts for 60% of the remote gambling market in Brazil, a market projected to reach $34bn in sports betting turnover by 2028.
Regarding the Brazil market, IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said: “The Ordinance’s stipulation that operators in Brazil must join an independent sports integrity monitoring body is helping to drive growth in IBIA’s membership and in our ability to monitor more betting transactions in Brazil’s regulated market.
“Our priorities are to further strengthen our monitoring and alert network and extend our information sharing agreements with partner organisations in Brazil and across the Latin American region.”
IBIA also entered into a global integrity partnership with Genius Sports in June, while Novibet also partnered with the integrity body in May with the view to launching in Brazil in the near future.
Ali added: “With legalisation comes renewed responsibility to protect the sports betting market, sports and consumers from match-fixing.
“Brazil has set a high bar on integrity, but there remains a lot of work to do in the wider Latam region.
“Our focus must be on creating a robust sports betting integrity ecosystem across the whole Latam marketplace.
“IBIA will therefore be working with its widening Latam network to ramp up monitoring and strengthen the collaboration between key stakeholders.”