LGA signs IOC agreement
Maltese regulator to cooperate with Olympic ruling body in monitoring suspicious betting patterns during London games.
Maltese regulatory body the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Olympic Committee’s International Sports Monitoring Body (ISM), aimed at helping investigate suspicious betting patterns during this summer’s games.
Under the terms of the deal, which seeks to target suspected “insider betting”, the LGA and its licensees have pledged to “Provide the necessary assistance to ensure the effective workings of the ISM and deter gamblers with malicious intent.”
A statement from the LGA explained: Such collaboration shall augment even further, the existing deterrents and shall ensure that the possibility of achieving unfair winnings… remains shut out of the regulated markets, such as that regulated by the LGA.”
The deal is described as being “In the interests of protecting and maintaining the integrity of the imminent London Olympic Games in particular.” The opening ceremony for the London games will be held on 27 July.
One of several memoranda of understanding signed by the LGA in recent months, it follows the regulator’s agreements with its counterpart in Ontario and with the FIFA Early Warning System.
A number of operators have already entered into their own agreements with the IOC ahead of the summer’s games, with Betfair the first to do so, and French regulator ARJEL signed its own cooperation agreement with the IOC in February.