The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), a world-leading sports betting integrity organization representing over 120 licensed sports betting brands globally, will expand its integrity monitoring and anti-match-fixing operations in Brazil.
The expansion comes as a response to imminent regulation by the federal government, the rapid growth of the sports betting sector in Brazil and data from IBIA that indicate that Brazilian sports demand even more actions aimed at preserving sports integrity.
IBIA is the largest carrier-led health monitor in Europe and is among the leaders in new North American jurisdictions such as Ontario. According to H2 Gambling Capital, the main independent authority on global betting market data, IBIA members already represent more than 60% of the online betting market in Brazil.
This leadership position will enable IBIA to provide accurate analysis and an effective barrier against match-fixing betting fraud in the country. The organization, therefore, is positioned to support the fight against match-fixing in the country.
IBIA CEO comments on proposed regulation of the Brazilian betting sector
Regarding the imminent Provisional Measure on the regulation of sports betting, Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “We welcome the decision of the Brazilian government to regulate the sports betting sector as a very positive change. 2021 IBIA, a balanced and efficient regulation of sports betting is a part of the solution to match-fixing related to sports betting”.
“IBIA is keen to work with policymakers to ensure that Brazil has all the benefits of a dynamic and competitive sports betting market, while reducing the risks of match-fixing,” he added.
The entity is committed to sharing data with sports federations, regulators and justice, in order to allow these bodies to identify, investigate and punish match-fixers with a high degree of accuracy.
The association achieves this by cross-referencing alerts generated by its members’ sophisticated security systems in order to identify suspicious bets potentially linked to match-fixing. IBIA members can then provide unique account-related data to be used as evidence in subsequent investigations.
“What sets IBIA apart from commercial monitoring systems is the ability to track transactional activity linked to individual client accounts rather than analyzing simple odds movements. No other sports integrity solution can provide access to this data, which covers more than US$137 billion in sports betting turnover per year, making IBIA the largest and most effective integrity network of its kind in the world,” added Khalid Ali.
Data from the Brazilian betting sector
H2 Gambling Capital estimates that the Brazilian sports betting sector has grown by 44.4% from 2021 to 2022, reaching R$4.5 billion (US$940 million) in gross betting revenue (GGR), and should reach R$ $9.265 billion ($1.86 billion) in GGR by 2027 (a 105% increase).
Given this rapid growth, IBIA and its members are focused on using the strengths of its unique global monitoring and alerting system to enhance the protection of the regulated betting and sporting events market in Brazil.
The Q1 Integrity Report, recently published by IBIA, provides a targeted assessment of alerts in the Latin American market, with 105 suspicious alerts across the region from 2018 to 2022. Brazil was the top source of betting alerts suspicions in Latin America (31%), with football accounting for the majority (61%) of them.
Khalid Ali noted: “IBIA is a not-for-profit organization that has no competition conflict in providing commercial services to other sectors. The association is run by operators for operators, with a core mission to protect the regulated sports betting markets, primarily for sporting bodies and consumers. Responsible operators of regulated sports betting have a significant incentive to help combat match-fixing, and IBIA intends to be at the forefront of this preventive action in Brazil.”
