Malta Gaming Authority signs MoU with Slovak Football Association

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has signed an integrity-led data-sharing agreement with the Slovak Football Association (SFA).

Under the terms of the deal, both authorities will work together to combat match-fixing in sport, through increased data sharing and regular cooperation on joint initiatives.

The SFA is the governing body of football in Slovakia and is one of the largest sports organisations in Slovakia with more than 400,000 members.

“The agreement with the Slovak Football Association joins a continuously growing list of data-sharing agreements with international partners from the sporting world,” MGA sports integrity manager Antonio Zerafa said.

“We are proud that through such agreements we are placing ourselves as an important contributor to match-fixing investigations across the globe, and we hope that we can now provide the same level of assistance to the Slovak FA also,” Zerafa added.

The MGA operates similar data-sharing and integrity-led agreements with several high-profile sporting bodies, including the International Cricket Council, Swedish Football Federation and the International Betting Integrity Association.

In October, the MGA activated a licensing condition making it mandatory for all Malta-licensed operators to report any suspicious betting patterns from January 2021.

To facilitate enforcement of this directive, the MGA has made its Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism (SBRM) tool available to all B2C operators.

“I hope that this agreement will be very useful for both sides and help us achieve a common goal – protecting the integrity of sporting competitions,” SFA integrity officer Jakub Čavoj said.

“For the Slovak FA and police investigations, this exchange of information could be important in collecting evidence because many of the popular betting companies in Slovakia have a Malta gambling licence.

“Sharing best practice and exchange of information is key in the fight against match-fixing,” Čavoj added.