11 suspicious betting patterns reported in Q1 2016

ts-betting integrity body ESSA received 11 reports of suspicious betting patterns during the first quarter of 2016.

Of the 11 cases, nine were related to tennis, with one each in basketball and football.

Five of the cases were indentified in Asia, three in Europe, two in Africa and one in South America.

The release of ESSA's Q1 2016 Integrity Report, which also includes articles on sports governance and betting integrity issues by the Council of Europe and Sports Integrity Initiative, coincides with the annual EU Sports Integrity Day.

The Integrity Day is designed to raise awareness amongst stakeholders and everyone who loves sport, reinforce the key education messages about sports-betting integrity, showcase good practice in the fight against match-fixing, and demonstrate a public commitment to preventing match-fixing from harming sport.

It is promoted by EU Athletes, a federation of European players associations and athlete unions, which manages a player education programme established in 2010 with the regulated betting sector, including ESSA.

The programme recently received a boost in funding from the European Commission, ensuring that it continues for a further two years until the end of 2017.

ESSA represents many of the largest regulated international sports-betting operators, including Ladbrokes, Bet365 and William Hill.