LaLiga and Paddy Power Betfair renew commitment to tackling match-fixing together

One of LaLiga's priority goals is to keep its competitions free from match-fixing and to combat all those who seek to cash in on illegal betting. For this reason, and to protect both football and the gambling industry, LaLiga has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Paddy Power Betfair – replacing a previous agreement with Betfair – with a view to safeguarding the integrity of the beautiful game.

In connection with the MoU, Alfredo Lorenzo, LaLiga's director of integrity and security, and Pedro Varas, LaLiga's integrity project manager, held several working meetings with Paddy Power Betfair at the bookmaker's London office in order to discuss the organisations' collaboration. On the subject, Lorenzo remarked that: "The use of sports betting to profit from match-fixing is a bane for both football and the gambling industry, one that does real damage, and we must work together to find solutions and execute them. LaLiga has shown that it isn't just all talk and we need others to act decisively alongside us."

"The interests of La Liga and Paddy Power Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure sporting events are played in a fair manner and that consumers can have the confidence to bet on markets that are transparent and free from corruption”, said Russell Wallace. “Today’s renewal of our cooperation agreement is another sign that La Liga and Paddy Power Betfair remain at the forefront of efforts to protect the sports we all love”.

LaLiga is committed to ensuring football is clean and free from match-fixing, to which effect its integrity and security department have been working diligently to apply the comprehensive Integrity Programme drawn up in 2013. This system includes training to raise awareness among players, coaches, directors and other football stakeholders, as well as close cooperation with the police to report potential issues and constant monitoring of competitions.

The aim of the MoU is to establish a joint working protocol and a line of communication so as to help protect football and the gambling industry – two important economic activities – from match-fixing and the betting rackets associated with it. The agreement seeks to build on the highly effective previous collaboration between LaLiga and Betfair, which delivered real results.

On this note, LaLiga believes that the practice of rigging matches for betting purposes undermines the sporting values of football, hurting the game and fans alike. Furthermore, the gambling industry also suffers on account of match-fixing, for which reason it is paramount that organisations from this sector and the sports world take action to jointly stamp out this scourge.