FIFA EARLY WARNING SYSTEM EXPANDED

22 February 2008

International football body wants to ensure the online and offline integrity of "the beautiful game"


International football authority FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is extending its early warning system for monitoring sports betting, the organisation says in a statement.

Early Warning System GmbH, a company founded specifically for this purpose with its own staff and offices in Zurich, was contracted to undertake this task and support FIFA's intention to prevent sports betting from having any negative impact on football matches and, at the same time, raise awareness of this problem throughout the entire football community.

To achieve these goals, FIFA will offer support from a technical perspective and in terms of manpower through Early Warning Systems GmbH. The Federation will sign contracts via the company with bookmakers and betting organisations, under which the latter pledge to report any irregular betting activities.

The ever-increasing range of online and offline sports bets now available, largely as a result of advances in new media and internet technology, is having a growing influence on football at national and international level, FIFA says. In the light of various betting scandals in recent years, FIFA set up its early warning system prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and successfully piloted the scheme during the tournament.

The experience gained prompted the FIFA Congress in Zurich on 31 May last year to formalise the early warning system and deploy it once again for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals scheduled for South Africa.

Article 15 of the FIFA Code of Ethics forbids officials, players and players' agents from taking part, either directly or indirectly, in betting, gambling, lotteries and similar events or transactions connected with football matches. It also prohibits these persons from having stakes, either actively or passively, in companies, concerns, organisations etc. that promote, broker, arrange or conduct such events or transactions.

Late last year, FIFA reported that there had been no attempts from betting circles to influence or manipulate the 90 matches that have been played since August 2007.

"In recent months, leading bookmakers, betting operators and betting organisations have signed up to the early warning system and pledged to report any incidences of irregular betting patterns," a spokesman said.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, speaking at the time in the light of recent suspicious activity in other sports competitions, said he was pleased by these results.

"The FIFA early warning system passed its first test in 2006 and has since been introduced across the board, and that means that we now have an efficient means of supervising and controlling betting activities," he said. The early warning system was first tested at all 64 matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

FIFA's goal is to conclude cooperation agreements with the entire bookmaking and betting industry for the early warning system so that those individuals who attempt to manipulate matches for betting purposes will no longer be able to do so.

By signing up to the early warning system, bookmakers and betting providers pledge to help FIFA pursue its objective of safeguarding football's integrity by protecting it from negative influences from betting circles.

Currently, the Early Warning System takes betting patterns and observations from over two hundred bookmakers and online gambling sites, along with police reports and information from players and officials, and uses the data to track and thwart attempts to illegally control soccer results for wagering purposes.

Noting that online betting allows for live-action play, such as wagers on who will score the next goal or draw the next penalty, a FIFA spokesman stated, "We realised we had to be as sophisticated as the other side."

EWS takes into account the likely methods of would-be fixers: bribing goalies and defenders who can most easily cause an unexpected loss; placing heavy bets late, especially on underdogs; sudden swings in the quality of play; and odd or inexplicable referee calls.

EWS has clearly recognised that online casinos and sportsbooks are not the enemy; rather, they have as much interest in an honest match as anyone and should be encouraged to join the anti-corruption effort.

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