The committee, consisting of national gaming associations Fecoljuegos and Asojuegos, online gaming operators, and Dimayor, the organization behind the country’s professional football leagues and tournaments, is committed to upholding the integrity and transparency of Colombian football. With this goal in mind, the committee has outlined several actions to be carried out in 2020 and early 2021.
The committee aims to advocate for legislation that seeks to criminalize sports manipulation and establish a protocol for information exchange between unions, public authorities, sports organizations, and sports betting operators. It also recommends a cooperation agreement with the public prosecutor’s office and the national police.
Furthermore, the committee members will focus on raising awareness, promoting education, providing training, and conducting research to combat sports competition manipulation. To support these efforts, a public education campaign will be launched, backed by the sports governing bodies and the gaming industry. Fecoljuegos and Asojuegos have already been collaborating in the fight against match-fixing.
Dimayor has an existing contract with Genius Sports, which enables a constant monitoring program to identify and alert any suspicious match-fixing activities. Similarly, the online sports betting operators in the country have services in place to monitor and control the bets on their platforms.
According to results published in November by Colombian regulator Coljuegos, the government has collected over COP2.8tn (£559.8m/€621.2m/$723.4m) in gaming taxes since 2015. These tax revenues are utilized to fund the nation’s healthcare system.
