IBIA names Jean-François Reymond as education ambassador

The former basketball player will support betting education campaigns for athletes.

Belgium.- The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has appointed the former French basketball player Jean-François Reymond as an education ambassador for athletes. He will support betting education campaigns with player associations and IBIA partners.

Reymond had a 12-years career in French basketball before he became secretary general of EU Athletes in 2012. In that role, he led the sports betting education projects PROtect Integrity and PDM Project. From 2016 until 2019, he was a member of a French platform to tackle the manipulation of sports and he has also served as vice-president of the World Player Association. 

Reymond said: “Protecting the integrity of sport means protecting the integrity of athletes. A lack of awareness of a growing number of differing regulatory models and sporting rules is creating an increasingly challenging environment for sportspeople. 

“The knock-on impact on their professional careers, reputations and livelihoods can be severe, as we have unfortunately recently witnessed in the NFL. 

“That is what motivates me, as an ex-professional myself, to get this important message across to all athletes. I am delighted to be working with the IBIA to support them in their mission to help promote and raise the standard of education and understanding around sports betting.”

IBIA chief executive Khalid Ali said: “Jean-François has been at the forefront of betting integrity education in Europe since its inception. He led the development of the key principles on sports betting for athletes and, as a former professional, his understanding of the importance of establishing trust with, and direct access to, players has been instrumental in shaping the way in which betting education is approached. 

“I’m delighted that we can draw on Jean-François’s unrivalled expertise, knowledge and connections to develop bespoke training programs for sportsmen and women to assist them in understanding the challenges and threats in this area.”

In January, IBIA reported that the number of betting alerts it recorded in 2021 fell to 239, down 13 per cent from 270 in 2020. The IBIA noted that this followed a “consistent” trend in recent years.

The average number of annual betting alerts between 2018 and 2020 was 240. Meanwhile, 11 sporting or criminal sanctions were issued as a result of IBIA alerts. 

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