Colombia’s National Anti-Match-Fixing Committee Steps Up

Colombia is stepping up its efforts to tackle match-fixing, as the government seeks to consolidate its revenue from the vertical.

A National Committee to Prevent Sports Fraud Takes Action in Colombia

The Colombian National Committee for the Prevention of Manipulation of Sports Competitions continues looking for solutions related to tackling sports betting fraud.  The Committee is focusing on the remainder of the year and 2021, calling for better integrity measures that will help prevent match-fixing and bring it to light when it occurs.

Compliance with sports integrity measures is not a new idea, as spearhead by IBIA, an independent global body rallying a string of operators with the sole purpose of improving collaboration between sports betting companies and regulatory authorities, and tackling betting fraud.

While Colombia is, not a member, the local Committee features participants from national gaming associations, to name Asojuegos and Fecoljuegos. Both organizations have partnerships allowing them to collaborate in identifying and tackling sports betting. Others, such as online gaming operators are also joining to help stem fraud in sports and establish clear rules for managing potential match-fixing fraud.

Upholding Integrity in Colombian Soccer

Soccer will be the primary focus of the Committee moving forward and for the better part of 2021, with authorities planning on establishing clear-cut measures that allow them to boost transparency and accountability in the sector.

Lawmakers are acting quickly to make match-fixing a criminal offence, leading to a much tougher stance on match-fixers who have been fairly unscathed so far. Yet, the legislation will change to involve public authorities, gambling operators, and sports organizations to tackle all and any suspicion of fraud and investigate tips.

All Committee members will have to work for promoting awareness and provide training on how to counteract match-fixing, as well as educate the public about the dangers of such practices. Sports governing bodies in the country are also stepping up to help the communal effort and clamp down on match-fixing.

The push against match-fixing is not localized to just Colombia. If anything, Sportradar recently reported that match-fixing is going to soar, but reinvent itself in a more organized fashion, with corruption targeting the higher-tiers of competitions in a bid to avoid detection.

Everyone to Play a Part

Yet, Colombia is preparing quickly. Dimayor, a sports betting agency in the country, is already partnered up with Genius Sports, an accredited agency that protects sports betting contests and alerts to potential foul play. The government, too, has an open interest in collecting enough tax revenue from gambling.

Colombia has raised $715 million since it legalized gambling operations in the country in 2015, and the country is continuing to seek ways to boost this revenue. Earlier in 2020, Colombia approved the introduction of live dealer games followed by an entry from Evolution, a leading supplier of live casino products.