UEFA signs agreement with ESSA to fight match-fixing

Madrid  :  The UEFA and the international betting integrity body ESSA on Monday agreed to fight match-fixing by signing an information sharing agreement to better detect suspicious activity using the ESSA's alert platform.

UEFA said the agreement would allow it to coordinate with the 25 sport betting operators that are ESSA members, reports Efe.

"We are delighted that ESSA will be teaming up with UEFA in our mission to eradicate the manipulation of matches from football, and the exchange of information between trusted partners is a key milestone in this fight," UEFA's managing director of integrity, Emilio Garcia, said in a statement.

"Match-fixing is a disease that threatens football's soul, and the game must be safeguarded from those who seek to profit from it by criminal means," he added.

UEFA said that among its initiatives was the betting fraud detection system (BFDS), which tracks betting activities for around 32,000 European matches per year, including domestic games.

ESSA Secretary General Khalid Ali highlighted the important role ESSA plays in "coordinating and focusing the licensed, regulated betting industry's zero-tolerance approach to the threat of betting-related match-fixing in sport."