The Government has approved a Ministerial order which creates the National Commission to combat the manipulation of sports competitions and fraud in betting.
The objective of this new body will be to develop action plans, recommendations or diagnoses to detect, prevent and combat illegal actions in the field of sports competitions and fraud in betting.
This regulation has been promoted by the Ministries of Finance, Interior and Culture and Sports and aims to fight against these criminal practices through coordinated action of all its members, as well as with the contribution of people of recognized prestige in the environment of sports competitions and in the betting
Corruption linked to the manipulation of sports competitions and to fraud related sports, both sports and horseracing, is one of the greatest threats to sport, as it undermines its essential values and keeps them away from their around fans and followers.
For this reason, and in line with the Council of Europe Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions, the Government has considered it necessary to establish at the national level a formalized channel of dialogue and cooperation between public authorities, sports organizations, organizers of competitions sports and representatives of the gaming sector.
Members and operation
Representatives of the General Directorates for the Regulation of Gambling and Sports, the National Police, the Civil Guard, the Higher Sports Council and persons related to sports competitions and the betting sector in Spain will be part of this Commission.
This Committee will be chaired on a rotating basis by the head of the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling and the Directorate General of Sports, who will alternate each year in the Presidency.
This body will operate through a Plenary and a Standing Committee and will not imply an increase in public expenditure, since it will be attended to by the technical and personal means available in the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling.
The Plenary will meet at least twice a year, and it will address the existing problems in different sectors, training, awareness and education will be promoted to prevent these criminal practices. It will also approve the creation of working groups, be responsible for approving recommendations or action plans and collaborate with national and international organizations related to this matter.
In addition, you will receive information from the Betting Alerts System, managed by the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling, and cases processed by the National Police Center for Integrity in Sports, Games and Betting.
For its part, the Standing Committee will carry out periodic analyzes on match fixing and betting fraud and will submit proposals to the Plenary to detect, prevent and combat these crimes.
Planned actions
After its creation, the members will be appointed by each of the member organizations of the Commission as a preliminary step to holding the constitutive session scheduled for next September.
In the same will be made the presentation, and, if appropriate, approval of the work program.
Likewise, the presentation of the early warning system developed by the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling is planned. The aforementioned system aims to serve as a point of communication, exchange of information and knowledge transfer in terms of control of betting markets, as well as fraudulent activities in terms of altering results or any other relevant circumstances that may occur during the events included within the betting platforms of the operators.
As an instrument that facilitates the integrity of the sport and the fight against fights and betting fraud, during the constituent session all the agents that are expected to connect to the system will be presented.
Among them, in addition to the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling, the Higher Sports Council and the State Security Forces, the gaming operators with authorization to market gambling in Spanish territory, as well as sports federations and organizers of sports competitions, which will formalize their adhesion through the signing of the corresponding collaboration agreement.