In a press conference this week jointly organised by the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) and the Association of Argentinian Lotteries (ALEA), a series of high level speakers discussed issues related to illegal sports betting regulation and sport competition manipulations in Argentina in recent months, notably in tennis.
GLMS president, Ludovico Calvi, highlighted the need for strong regulatory frameworks and concrete measures against illegal sports betting, as also called for by the Council of Europe Convention on the manipulation of Spot Competitions. This was seconded by CP Silvio Vivas, of ALEA, who backed Calvi’s call for such measures, particularly as sports betting is currently not authorised in the country.
Dr Luis Cevasco, from the Argentinian Ministry of Justice argued, however, that this is a matter that should not be on the table for discussions and questioned the level of involvement by the Argentinian State on legalizing betting. He also raided issues regarding the social costs in relation to compulsive betting, as well as the ability to measure the problem.
Friedrich Martens from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) used the conference as a platform to highlight the role of education and prevention, referring to the relevant activities of the IOC in the field. He went on to stress the importance of all private and public stakeholders, including lotteries, regulators, law enforcement agencies and sports movements working together in this direction.
Calvi stated after the event: “I would really like to thank ALEA for the co-organisation, all speakers as well as journalists and the active participants for this fruitful discussion. It is clear that stakeholders in Argentina understand the importance of taking serious steps against this phenomenon, including measures against illegal sports betting, manipulation of sports competitions as well as strategic education and prevention initiatives. GLMS will continue to pursue its mission of safeguarding sport integrity and sport values relentlessly everywhere in any form and in any continent.”
