Lausanne, Jan 19 (IANS): The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has signed up to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS).
As an intelligence sharing digital platform, IBIS will enable FIH and its 132 member national associations to access an extensive network of monitoring and data-sharing across sports, event owners and the major sports betting entities.
The objectives set out by the IOC through the implementation of IBIS are three-fold -- to safeguard sports from illegal sports betting, to support international federations and multi-sport event organisers with intelligence and information exchange, and to create a framework for transparency, confidentiality and trust across all users.
FIH joins the seven Olympic winter sports federations and a growing number of Olympic summer sports federations which have already joined IBIS in view of the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
FIH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IOC and implementation of the system is to come into effect in 2015.
“We are pleased to sign up to IBIS and to be working together with the IOC in the fight against corruption in sport," FIH president Leandro Negre said.
"As the world governing body of hockey, it is our responsibility to ensure the integrity of the sport is upheld and protected from the threats that are match-fixing and corruption. We are confident that this partnership will help safeguard hockey and all other Olympic sports and see it as an excellent step forward."