Malta Gaming Authority Signs Memorandum With ESSA

In a bid to help maintain and protect the integrity of sports and sports
betting, Malta’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Sports Security Association
(ESSA).

ESSA, a leading sports monitoring organisation based in Brussels, Belgium, is
aimed at ensuring that sports betting is operated responsibly and legally, with
the objective of keeping it free from corruption, match-fixing and fraud.

As such, by signing the MoU, the LGA will work closely with ESSA to ensure the
ongoing honesty and integrity of sporting competitions and events by aiding the
association through is relationships with its licensed gaming operators.

MoU Aimed to Maintain Integrity in Sports

According to a statement, LGA’s European Union and International Affairs Legal
Manager Gayle Kimberley said that the memorandum of understanding with ESSA is
one of many agreements designed to maintain the integrity in sports, because the
issue is an important one which must be given the highest priority.

The LGA statement went on to imply that its collaboration with ESSA will serve
to demonstrate that corruption in sports betting, such as match-fixing, has no
place in highly regulated online gambling jurisdictions such as Malta.

The MoU with Malta’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority is just one of many that
ESSA has signed with a host of Europe’s biggest sporting organisations.

These include the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Women’s Tennis
Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the Association of
Tennis Professionals (ATP), the German Football League, the Football Association
(FA), the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), the Union of European
Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Football Federation (IFF) and
many more.

ESSA Acts Like an Early-Warning System

If it does its job right, ESSA acts like an ‘early-warning system’ by providing
these sporting organisations with information and data to do with betting
irregularities and/or unusual wagering patterns.

Said ESSA Secretary General,
Khalid Ali, ‘It’s in all our interests to defeat betting-related match-fixing.
By signing an MoU with the LGA in Malta, we have a direct link with the
regulator to report any suspicious betting patterns thereby developing a robust
ecosystem to protect the interests of consumers, sport and the betting
operators.’