The UK\’s Government has drawn up a code of practice to cover integrity in sports betting, based on rules that have evolved in British horseracing over recent years.
“We need to do everything we can to maintain British sport\’s reputation for the highest levels of integrity in the world,” commented sports minister Richard Caborn.
The first two signatories are the Jockey Club and the Football Association.
“With betting on other sports growing all the time, I want to see all the other governing bodies signing up,” said Caborn.
CODE OF PRACTICE
General principles
To protect the integrity of betting on sport; to safeguard participants and consumers; to develop relationships with sporting regulators, betting operators, statutory organisations and government departments.
The ten-point plan
The sporting authority will:
*seek to embody principles underpinning the plan
*include provisions in rules and regulations governing behaviour of participants in relation to betting
*expect participants to avoid any situation, in context of betting, that may involve conflict of interest with the sport and/or may undermine confidence of public; participants will not misuse privileged information
*not avoid taking necessary action when they suspect or are aware of betting activity that threatens integrity of sport and objectives of code of practice
*co-operate with and, if appropriate, enter into information sharing agreements with relevant statutory authorities in context of sports betting (eg, police, Customs & Excise, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Gambling Commission
*further to commitment above, take responsibility for pro-actively passing appropriate information or knowledge of corrupt practices (eg, race/match fixing scam) to relevant authorities (eg, police, Customs & Excise)
*endeavour to work with bookmakers or betting operators where they seek to enter into information sharing agreements
*share best practice in maintaining integrity in sports betting with other sporting authorities
*seek to ensure that participants co-operate fully with any investigation conducted by them, and expect them to provide full disclosure of information in any investigation
*nominate a person/department with special responsibility for betting issues
Calculators
