Spain is looking to improve the integrity of sports in the country and has launched an action plan to begin for 2020 and 2021.
CONFAD, which is the country’s ‘national commission’ for fighting against manipulation and fraud in sports, has created 21 directives related to protecting Spanish sporting integrity.
There will be four pillars in the plan, which includes studying current market regulations and operations.
Numerous authorities within the country have cooperated to put everything together. To ensure an effective implementation, they will work with various operators and sporting associations.
Major Spanish sporting bodies worked on putting together the action plan
The action plan to protect sports integrity in Spain is overseen by the country’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Cooperating with them on this initiative are the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), as well as the Higher Council for Sports.
The National Police and Civil Guard will also help to implement the new plan.
To further support the upholding of this action plan, the above authorities will work with various sports associations. These include La Liga, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation – plus others.
Some of the biggest operators serving this market will also be closely worked with. GVC Holdings, bet365 and Sportium are three of the names who will help to protect Spanish sports.
Raising awareness
One of the plan’s pillars is ‘disclosure and awareness’. This aims to provide education for both the general public and professional athletes. Individuals will learn about existing regulations, as well as sports betting fraud and its potential risks.
‘Analysis and diagnosis’ ties in with the awareness pillar. It stresses that individuals must be taught about the dangers that are posed when corruption seeps into sports.
‘Study of current regulations and operations’ involves ensuring that new developments can be responded to through existing legal sports betting framework. This will likely require constant reviewing and regulatory updates, according to the commission, due to the way that technological advancements can quickly change the market.
Spain is in the process of reforming its sports betting regulations, which have been submitted to the European Commission for approval. The European Betting and Gaming Association (EBGA) has criticised proposals for being counterproductive.
