IBIA to support global expansion of South Korean cycling and motorboat betting
The two sports accounted for 7.5 per cent of the South Korean betting market in 2024.
UK.- The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) with a view to expanding global betting on South Korean cyling and motorboat racing.
The MoU – the first between the IBIA and a national sports body in Asia – focuses on safeguarding the integrity of wagers placed on the sports, which already have popularity with South Korean bettors.
It’s estimated that South Korea’s betting industry generated around 25.5trn Korean won (€15bn) in sales in 2024, with around 22.86 million participants. Cycling and motorboat contributed around 7.5 per cent of bets and attracted 12.5 million users.
Speaking at a siging ceremony in London, Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “This agreement marks an important step forward, not only for KSPO and the integrity of K-Cycle and K-Motorboat Racing, but for the advancement of betting integrity standards across Asia. IBIA is delighted to support KSPO in setting a benchmark for clean, transparent and accountable sports betting operations in the region. We look forward to building on this partnership and helping to protect the integrity of K-Sports’ products.”
Sung-chul Lee, director general of the KSPO, commented: “Through this agreement, KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing has elevated the status of K-Sports and has taken a leap forward to global standards. I would like to express my deep gratitude to CEO Khalid Ali and the IBIA officials for their cooperation in making this agreement successful. Following this agreement, we intend to supply the KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing products to the international betting market, protected by this important integrity collaboration.”
The IBIA identified 63 cases of potentially suspicious betting activity in the first quarter of the year. The figure represents a decline of 3 per cent compared to the previous quarter but a rise of 11 per cent year-over-year from 57 alerts reported in Q1 2024.
The incidents reported cover six sports across 23 countries. Football and tennis remain the sports responsible for he lion’s share of reports at 40 alerts, up from 35 in Q4 2024. There were nine cases related to table tennis, which reflects a drop to more usual numbers after a spike in Q4.
