Fifa held its first major anti-corruption conference in Zurich yesterday to promote the work of its Early Warning System subsidiary. The firm, set up by Fifa and managed by Dr Urs Scherrer, a Swiss sports lawyer, collates information from a global network of more than 400 bookmakers about the amount bet on specific outcomes.
If there is a rush of money on a particular result, alarms are triggered pointing to an irregular betting pattern. EWS says it is being run as a not-for-profit organisation and Fifa has already begun to roll it out to other relevant sports.
The company's articles of association were altered to that effect earlier this year and EWS was employed by the International Olympic Committee at the Beijing Games in August. But other betting-integrity experts believe the information EWS gathers is not an effective tool in fighting sports-related corruption.
"The most important thing you need in assessing betting patterns is the identity of who has placed the bet," said Mark Davies, who as the managing director of the betting exchange Betfair might be considered a competitor to EWS. "Without that information, volume is irrelevant because the bettor might be rich or poor."
EWS claims to have a punter-identification requirement for its 400 members although it did not explain how this works. "EWS is a very professional organisation and we have complete confidence in their competencies and professionalism," said a Fifa spokesman.
source-http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/11/1
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