Ladbrokes, the UK gambling giant and one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies, has announced that it has joined the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) thus making the company the first bookmaker with both an online as well as an offline operation to join ESSA.

By joining ESSA, Ladbrokes will be responsible for reporting any irregular betting patterns via the association’s Early Warning System in return for which Ladbrokes will be informed by legal and official sporting regulation bodies of any potential manipulation on sporting events.

The Secretary-General of ESSA, Khalid Ali, reported that this is a very important step to ensure that ESSA becomes the industry standard organization having the support of both online and offline operators. They welcome Ladbrokes who they are sure have an important contribution to developing industry-wide standards in that area and he urged all online and offline operators in the industry to work with ESSA.

Ladbrokes Trading Director, Mike O’Kane, commented on the move by saying that the European Sports Security Association is intent on improving the sharing of information between sports bodies and betting operators. He added that the issue is at present surrounded by rumor and sensationalism but that the incidence of betting corruption in sports is really minimal. The integrity and reputation of sport as well as its participants can be protected by giving regulators and sporting bodies a full and accurate picture of unusual betting patterns.

The European Sports Security Association was established by several sportsbooking giants in the industry and has, since 2005, developed a close working relationship and signed memorandums of understanding with UEFA and other sport federations such as IOC, the ATP as well as with FIFA.