Consumer protection is key
The betting industry group ESSA has expressed its support for stronger safeguards in Europe’s sports betting industry.
In the wake of recent headlines about high-level corruption in FIFA, the watchdog group echoed the European Parliament’s call for a stand against corruption, including money laundering and match-fixing.
SBC News reported that members of the parliament agreed on a joint motion for a resolution following the recent revelations of alleged high-profile corruption at senior levels in FIFA, the worldwide governing body for football. They say the scandal demonstrates the need for “transparent, accountable and democratic structures” within international sports organizations.
“Corruption and money laundering are intrinsically linked,” the MEPs wrote. “A large number of member states have been affected by match-fixing and other financial crimes often related to criminal organizations operating on an international scale.”
ESSA Chairman Mike O’Kane said the organization “has campaigned for some years on the importance of establishing transparent and accountable governance in sport as a fundamental measure to protect the integrity of sporting events.
“Corrupters will continue to prey on sports with poor governance and financial management structures, which is unfortunately widespread within the sector,” he said. “ESSA supports the position of the European Parliament that ‘if not addressed urgently and properly, corruption may continue to undermine trust in sports institutions and threaten the integrity of sport as a whole’ and will also continue to weaken the fight against match-fixers.”
At the same time, Germany has dragged its feet to integrate its online sports betting framework, a delay that has caught the attention of the European Court of Justice. The ECJ plans an investigation into the legislation process, which “will likely question the implemented licensing procedure of the Hesse Ministry, which had opened the German sports betting market to a limited 20 prelicensed operators,” SBC News reported.
Some 80 operators had applied to gain one of the 20 HMDIS licenses.
