MANCHESTER: The Hong Kong FA has signed an agreement with betting fraud monitor Sportradar for the company’s fraud detection system to provide intelligence about global betting on over 100 games per season until July 2017.

The agreement was also a topic of discussion as both the Hong Kong FA’s Mark Sutcliffe and Sportradar’s Darren Small provided delegates with insights into possible solutions as part of the Soccerex Global Convention’s panel on match-fixing.

In the year that the Hong Kong FA celebrates its centenary, ceo Mark Sutcliffe travelled to Manchester England to sign the agreement which will see Sportradar’s system cover all 113 games of Hong Kong’s Premier League, League Cup, Community Shield, Senior Shield, FA Cup and Play-offs each season.

In addition to Sportradar’s director of integrity Darren Small, Mark Sutcliffe was joined on the matchfixing panel by chair of the Interpol integrity in sport steering group John Abbott and the chief executive of The International Centre for Sport Security Europe Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros.

The panel, which immediately preceded the signing of the agreement, allowed both organisations to expand on how the FDS will work to deter match-fixers in the context of a general discussion on how football and relevant stakeholders can collaborate to safeguard the integrity of the game worldwide.

After the panel, Small said: “As part of our commitment to providing our clients with 24/7 coverage of football worldwide, Sportradar opened its first Asian office in Hong Kong. So it is incredibly exciting for us to add our ‘local’ FA from Hong Kong to the list of associations who will not compromise on integrity.

“It was a really proud moment for me to be able to discuss our shared commitment to safeguarding football with Mark [Sutcliffe] before the eyes of some of the most important stakeholders and decision-makers in global football”.

Sutcliffe added: “It has really been impossible to ignore the credibility and reputation of Sportradar’s Security Services both in the region and internationally. So to have the FDS monitoring all our professional level football is reassuring and to have that in place for three seasons underlines our own commitment to keeping our competitions safe.

“Soccerex is the forum where football meets and to be able to put pen to paper here in Manchester and to be able to show our resolve to our fellow football leaders attending the match-fixing panel this morning was an opportunity the Hong Kong FA could not miss.”

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HONG KONG FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

Established in 1914, the Hong Kong FA is the national governing body for football in Hong Kong. It is committed to further enhancing the development of football in Hong Kong and achieving the highest possible standards of football at all levels.

In recent years, the Hong Kong FA have held meetings with FIFA, Interpol, the Hong Kong Police Force and ICAC to develop a national coordinated framework to prevent future incidents of match-fixing and prepare an action plan for the HKFA and other stakeholders.

More information can be found on www.hkfa.com/en/

SPORTRADAR SECURITY SERVICES

Sportradar is a global leader in understanding and leveraging the power of sports data and digital content for its clients around the world. The company’s Security Services operation provides the Fraud Detection System (FDS) to several federations, including the AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA. This unique system allows the Security Services team to monitor betting behaviour and patterns worldwide and to identify suspicious activities. Those findings prove invaluable for sports federations and law enforcement agencies that are looking to pinpoint match-fixers. The Security Services also include the Fraud Prevention Service (FPS) through which Sportradar offers education tools and services that have been delivered to leagues and clubs around the world. These have been show to increase awareness of illegal betting and match-fixing among those involved in sport.

More than 600 businesses in over 80 countries rely on Sportradar’s data depth and quality services in their daily business. Headquartered in Switzerland, Sportradar has offices in more than 25 locations around the world and employs over 750 highly experienced staff worldwide.

More information can be found on www.sportradar.com.

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Press enquiries:

Alex Inglot

Head of Communications

Sportradar AG

P: +44 203 695 22 14

E-mail: a.inglot@sportradar.com

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