Ahead of the commencement of the FIFA World Cup next week, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has directed all licensed operators to beef up their monitoring and reporting of bet suspicious betting activities.
The MGA has joined regulators in South Africa, France and the Netherlands in issuing pre-tournament warnings to bookmakers regarding the increased risk of match-fixing and threats to the integrity of betting during major sporting events.
The tournament will take place from 11 June-19 July and the MGA believes that the scale and global focus of this event may put increased pressure on bookmakers and potentially lead to increased levels of irregular betting patterns.
Furthermore, the MGA continues to work closely with FIFA to help protect competitions from corruption and betting-related misconduct.
Licensed operators are also required to appoint a dedicated Sports Integrity Point of Contact, enhance their internal controls, and maintain formal communication with the MGA Sports Integrity Unit and any other agencies that are relevant to sports integrity in Malta.