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Nota de Prensa

MAR 04.04.2017 | Nota de Prensa

LaLiga & Jdigital sign an agreement to promote good practice within the game

The two institutions are set to work together to protect the integrity of the competitions and prevent the bad practices linked to match-fixing and illegal sports betting.

Nota de Prensa

MAR 04.04.2017

This Tuesday saw LaLiga stage a presentation ceremony at the institution's headquarters to unveil the partnership agreement signed with Jdigital, a non-profit-seeking organisation whose overriding mission is to protect the interests of the Spanish gaming industry. In attendance at the ceremony were LaLiga president, Javier Tebas; LaLiga's director of integrity and security, Alfredo Lorenzo; the head of the Spanish online gaming association, Jdigital, Sacha Michaud; the director general of Sportium, Alberto Eljarrat; and the president of ProLiga, the Commission of Tercera Division and Segunda B Clubs (CCT), Oscar Garvin.

This agreement sees LaLiga and Jdigital commit to working together to promote good practice within sport, with a particular focus on Spanish football and protecting the integrity of the game's competitions. In addition, Jdigital is set to encourage the stakeholders involved in safeguarding the game's integrity to designate an individual who can be contacted in those instances in which LaLiga detects a possible offence.

In reference to the agreement, Tebas stated that, "Today is an important day for LaLiga and sport in general." "When I assumed the presidency, I set myself the target of eradicating the scourge of betting as one of the main focuses of our work," revealed the LaLiga chief, before insisting that, "this shouldn't be the only route we follow." Tebas went on to underline that, "Online betting in Spain affects our sport in terms of match-fixing," and explained that the institution "is involved throughout all levels of the game and works with the clubs on prevention, training and investigation."

Tebas also pointed out that, "We at LaLiga inform the international institutions, the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation) and the police about the cases of match-fixing which crop up every weekend. There's the Eldense case and last year it was Sagunto and there have been several further cases which weren't made public but which were reported. The RFEF does nothing to wipe out instances of pre-determined results."

"Our job is to stamp out match-fixing and it's the police's responsibility to arrest the perpetrators. We've played our part in each of the cases to ensure that those involved have been taken to court. This Monday we were represented in Elda, where we submitted documentation to assist in the investigations," revealed the institution's president. "A great deal of damage is being done to the amateur game. We also have to be on hand to defend the honourable clubs, the women's teams and those competing at regional level, as well as fencing clubs and whenever there are cases of corruption in sport and where there are suspicions of an offence," insisted Tebas. 

According to a report published by KPMG in 2015, the socio-economic impact of the Spanish professional game, which is made up of 42 clubs and public limited sports companies, accounted for 0.75% of the country's GDP, whilst it generated a turnover of €7.6 billion and created 140,000 employment opportunities. It is forecast that by 2020 the game will represent 1.71% of Spain's GDP.

For his part, Michaud commented that, "We represent the perfect tool to assist in safeguarding the integrity of sport. Some years ago, the only means of betting throughout the world was on the pools and online betting has now changed as it has adapted to the digitalisation of the industry." The head of the association added that, "It's thanks to the companies who hold licences and their technology that we're able to detect these practices."

For the past three years, LaLiga has been working alongside Sportium, the gambling industry leader and most established and best well-known company across the Spanish betting market. With their involvement in this agreement, the firm, which defines itself by its high levels of responsibility and commitment to the values of sport, takes a further step in favour of an active collaboration between all of the organisations involved in the fight to protect the integrity of the national competitions.

As LaLiga's official betting partner, Sportium shares the institution's core principles, such as the prevention of fraud and values of responsibility and transparency. Eljarrat noted that, "Sportium signed an agreement with LaLiga three seasons ago, the main aim of which was to achieve good practice in sport. Our ties have become closer over time and as we've obtained more information and detection levels in the field of online gaming have improved. This agreement is a fantastic idea because it represents a means by which we can attempt to eradicate this bane by all working together." 

Garvin sought to thank LaLiga, "for the effort they're undertaking to rid this scourge from within the game. I wish to thank everyone for their contribution in fighting against an issue which is having an impact on football." Garvin went on to add that, "This is a problem that the organisations have to deal with and we're interested in trying to solve it. We at ProLiga are working to create a clean brand and with LaLiga's assistance we're laying on integrity courses for each of the clubs competing in the national leagues. Next year we'll expand our efforts and work with the amateur clubs." The CCT representative sounded a positive note as he looked to the future, "We're working to ensure that these clubs are able to grow and once again begin to attract public interest."

This agreement comes at a time at which LaLiga is making significant efforts to ensure that all of the game's stakeholders are made aware of the importance of integrity in sport and how it relates to betting and match-fixing.

© LALIGA - 2017