SPA signs partnership with 4 global entities to combat sports betting fraud

The Ministry of Finance, through the Secretariat of Awards and Betting (SPA), established this Tuesday (29/10) Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACTs) with four sports betting monitoring and integrity organizations: Genius Sports, International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), Sport Integrity Global Alliance (Siga and Siga Latin America), and Sportradar. With the formalization of these partnerships, the SPA strengthens the safety network focused on the prevention and combat of sports result manipulation in the country through betting.

The secretary of Awards and Betting of the MF, Regis Dudena, explained that these four organizations are globally recognized in the monitoring of the sector, with operations in countries such as Canada, England, and Australia. They have highly qualified expertise to identify suspicious betting movements, helping to identify and contain attempts at result manipulation.

From the signing of the ACTs, these organizations will provide information about the betting market to the SPA. This partnership also paves the way to assist in the qualification of SPA teams, with the training of those responsible for monitoring movements in the sports betting sector.
 

“They will train us, so that we can identify possible cases of manipulation and related frauds; in addition to sharing information. It is a two-way street,” detailed Regis Dudena. That is, both the SPA and the participating integrity organizations are simultaneously toning their monitoring capabilities.

The national secretary of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports of the Ministry of Sports, Giovanni Rocco, stated that the partnerships also help to “take care of the image of Brazilian sports, in all aspects”. The agreements, he highlighted, strengthen the state's capacity to be quick and efficient in the investigation and punishment of cases of result manipulation, not only in football but in all sports modalities, especially the individual ones.

“Our main partner will be the Federal Police,” he stated, reinforcing commitment with an efficient work mechanism, generating quick responses for the whole society.

In forming these partnerships, by ACTs, there are no transfers of resources, nor payments, from any of the parties. The tone of the initiative is to strengthen the security of the entire system, and protecting the betting market, sports, and society as a whole.

Dudena reinforced that this monitoring network safeguards bettors, athletes, teams, and fixed-odds betting operators from malicious actions of fraudsters. This arises from the fact that there will be greater availability of data on movements in the sports betting market and the performance of even more detailed analyses on manipulation attempts. “We can and must share the information, so that all operators can know about suspicious cases,” stated the secretary.
 

History

The secretary of Awards and Betting recalled that sports betting was legalized in Brazil at the end of 2018, with a four-year period for regularization, which was not done. “It is a sector that has been without due attention for a long time,” he pointed out, highlighting the efforts made since the beginning of 2023 to address this regulatory gap and that now translate into effective actions of monitoring and control of the segment.

“We all know that this specific activity, of sports betting, attracts various types of problems. The Brazilian state, like all states around the world, was concerned about treating this sector as one that needs to be regulated. It needs to be observed, it needs to have a state intervention in this economic sector, to ensure that the so-called negative externalities are avoided,” stated the secretary.

He highlighted that from the sanction of Law No. 14.790/2023, the regulation built by the SPA addressed all these negative externalities, which include not only the manipulation of results but also factors such as money laundering and financial losses by the bettor.
 

The signing of the ACTs was carried out this Tuesday, in Brasília, in a ceremony at the headquarters building of the Ministry of Finance. The agreements have a duration of 60 months (5 years) and new similar mechanisms may be established in the future.

“The SPA is open to talking with other organizations that operate in the integrity of betting,” pointed out the head of the SPA. “I don't want one or the other; I want all,” reinforced Dudena, commenting on the efforts to attract other monitoring and integrity organizations of the sports betting sector.

He emphasized that the ACTs signed this Tuesday reinforce the strengthening of the roadmap proposed since the beginning of the regulation, to aggregate agents who, by excellence, are concerned with the negative externalities inherent to the sports betting segment.

Partnerships

“We take integrity very seriously. We have 160 partners around the world, among entities, leagues, and federations, with whom we share data and information and technology always with the aim of preventing any type of manipulation and fraud in sports that would tarnish the credibility of sports,” stated the representative of Genius Sports, João Amaral.

“There is no easier way to destroy value in the sports chain than with manipulation,” said the CEO of Sportradar Brazil, Sérgio Flores. He pointed out that the formalization of the agreements represents another step in the structuring of a robust system that will take Brazil out of the condition of being a country with more suspicions of manipulation in the world.
 

The representative of IBIA, Grahan Tidey, pointed out that the entity will offer the Brazilian government, free of charge, the insights about the betting market in Brazil, especially about fraudulent bets, sharing best practices and suggestions. “It is a great satisfaction to be part of this partnership,” said Tidey.

As pointed out by Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, co-founder and Global CEO of Siga and chairman and CEO of Siga Latin America, monitoring the sector is a challenge of great complexity and sophistication, with a gigantic financial dimension. On a global scale, he reported that the segment moves between US$ 3 trillion and US$ 5 trillion per year. Medeiros expressed recognition of the fact that the Brazilian government has faced the issue, maintaining as the main support the values of integrity of the entire sector. He especially highlighted the Brazilian concern to establish mechanisms to protect children and young people.

"The integrity of sports betting is one of the fundamental pillars for the healthy and sustainable development of the sports sector and, consequently, for the Brazilian and global economy. We are, therefore, 100% committed to collaborating with the Brazilian government in this common goal.”
 

“Our extensive knowledge and expertise, as well as our universal standards and rating system are at the disposal, whether of sports organizations, operators and betting regulators, as well as the Government and other economic agents, such as sponsors, so that sports in Brazil are governed, operated, and practiced in accordance with the highest standards of integrity.”

“And sports is, perhaps, the greatest tool for social inclusion in our country,” complemented the General Coordinator of Monitoring of Money Laundering and Other Crimes of the SPA, Frederico Justo. Maintaining the integrity of the sports betting system, therefore, also preserves “dreams of many children who, if not for sports, would not have the conditions to have a better life,” pointed out the coordinator of the SPA, who led the event.

Justo adds: “It is a great satisfaction to sign this technical cooperation agreement with Siga. Knowing that the Brazilian regulator has as an ally a serious and dedicated organization to the integrity of betting and sports gives us confidence and makes us believe that we will reap great fruits from this partnership, long life to it.”

Results

The process of sharing information with monitoring and investigation bodies, involving suspicious cases of manipulation, was detailed by the Undersecretary of Monitoring and Supervision of the SPA, Fabio Macorin; and by the delegate of the Federal Police Daniel Cola.

“We are a country that watches the Olympics, to watch World Cups. It is a topic of utmost importance. Hence the importance of data that comes to us in a qualified way, that can really initiate an investigation effectively”, said Macorin. He reinforced the indispensability of combating illicit activities in the sports betting sector, such as forged results, which can “tarnish too much is such an important sector for the country”.
 

“The Federal Police has been partnering with Sportradar since 2021; we are witnesses to how this type of agreement can assist in combating result manipulation. And we also have a very close partnership with the SPA and, more recently, also with the Ministry of Sports,” stated the PF delegate, also recalling the partnership with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

“Since the SPA implemented the various ordinances and the accreditation of several betting houses, all this has assisted in criminal investigations,” reinforced Daniel Cola. He pointed out that the agreements are beneficial both for the exchange of information and for the expansion of learning possibilities from the experiences of other countries.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, declared: "IBIA is very pleased to have signed this agreement with the Ministry of Finance and praises the government's focus on creating a robust ecosystem to combat the manipulation of results in sports betting. Collaboration and information sharing are essential for the success of this ecosystem. In line with the agreement, IBIA will identify and report to the Ministry of Finance suspicious bets on Brazilian sports events, providing detailed customer account data, which are exclusive to IBIA and its members, to assist in investigations”.

Source: GMB