{"id":777018594,"date":"2024-08-29T09:41:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T12:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777018594"},"modified":"2026-04-22T06:39:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:39:21","slug":"asian-racing-federation-calls-for-collaboration-to-address-industry-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/asian-racing-federation-calls-for-collaboration-to-address-industry-issues","title":{"rendered":"Asian Racing Federation calls for collaboration to address industry issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>AFR chairman Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges spoke at the 40th Asian Racing Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Hong Kong.- Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, chairman of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) and CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), highlighted issues facing the horse racing industry in a speech at the 40th Asian Racing Conference. He identified industry fragmentation as a major obstacle, noting that the sport &#8220;has to think globally.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also noted the challenges of social acceptability, the proliferation of illegal and offshore betting and the importance of addressing long-term sustainability in light of an ageing customer base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the conference, it was said that the global illegal wagering market is worth an estimated US$1.7tn and is growing at a faster rate than the legal market. Engelbrecht-Bresges called for a unified global strategy to address the challenges, saying that no single jurisdiction could tackle them alone. He urged a prioritisation of science, technology and research to increase safety for horses, and called for innovative solutions, including the use of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Engelbrecht-Bresges&#8217; keynote presentation, Andrew Harding, secretary general, Asian Racing Federation and HKJC executive director, said fan engagement would determine the sport&#8217;s future. He said: &#8220;Fan engagement is not a mere buzzword. It will determine our future. It will determine whether we maintain, hopefully, grow or become increasingly marginalised to the point of irrelevance.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See also:<\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hk-jockey-club-ceo-re-elected-as-chair-of-the-arf\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HK Jockey Club CEO re-elected as chair of the ARF<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFR chairman Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges spoke at the 40th Asian Racing Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777018595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) and CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), addressed critical challenges facing the horse racing industry, including fragmentation, social acceptability, and the proliferation of illegal wagering, estimated at US$1.7 trillion globally. He advocated for a unified global strategy, prioritizing science, technology, and AI, alongside enhanced fan engagement, to ensure long-term sustainability amidst an ageing customer base.","focusai_entities":"Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Asian Racing Federation, ARF, Hong Kong Jockey Club, HKJC, Andrew Harding","focusai_location":"Hong Kong","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.92), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.75), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.85), payments_fraud_aml (0.88), investor_analyst (0.93), supplier_vendor (0.78), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Illegal Wagering Enforcement?","query":"Given the US$1.7 trillion illegal wagering market, what specific cross-jurisdictional enforcement mechanisms are being proposed beyond a 'unified global strategy' to mitigate this threat?"},{"label":"AI for Fan Engagement?","query":"How will the ARF and HKJC leverage AI and other emerging technologies to address the ageing customer base and enhance fan engagement, particularly in competitive iGaming markets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338],"tags":[22317],"class_list":["post-777018594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-hong-kong-jockey-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777018594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777018604,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018594\/revisions\/777018604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777018595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777018594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777018594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777018594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}