Dutch government dismisses match-fixing legislation loophole
Sander Dekker responds to parliamentary concerns after report suggests new act could lead to delays in reporting suspicious betting patterns
Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Sander Dekker has moved to quash speculation that the country’s Remote Gaming Act carries a loophole which could inadvertently enable match-fixing in the Netherlands.
Responding to written parliamentary questions from MPs, Dekker dismissed press coverage that suspicious betting patterns could only be reported to the Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit under the country’s Money Laundering Act (Wwft).
The news reports claimed that suspicious betting information would not be shared with any other entity, including the sporting federations concerned, without the approval of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service.
This could increase the likelihood of match-fixing concerns going unresolved, MPs suggested, before questioning the potential loophole and its implications for sports federations and the sports betting integrity industry.
Dekker revealed the Dutch government was aware of the situation and that the clause in the act limiting access solely to the FIU would only be activated in certain situations, and that sports federations would still be informed of any potential breaches.
“With the entry into force of the laws and regulations regarding remote games of chance, providers of sports betting are obliged to provide information about unusual betting patterns at the event level (independent of suspicious AML transactions) and without delay report to the SBIU and the sports organisations involved,” Dekker wrote.
“Moreover, with entry into force of the Remote Gaming Act, providers of online games of chance are obliged to notify under the Wwft.
“These reports of unusual transactions may also include reports of concern of match-fixing. All in all, I conclude that the information position of the sport has not gotten worse,” Dekker added.
The minister confirmed that consultations had been conducted with the country’s sporting bodies since 2020.
The government has moved to introduce a new fast-track reporting system which aims to allow the FIU to pass data to sporting federations as soon as possible.
In this new system, the FIU would mark any reports of potential match fixing, so they can be reported to the relevant sports governing body. A consultation on this new system will be launched by the Dutch government over the next few months.