New agreement allows Spanish police to probe potential betting fraud

Spain’s national police have entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Spain.- Spain’s national police force has announced an agreement to investigate possible match-fixing identified by the country’s gambling regulator, the DGOJ. It will be able to access the regulator’s Global Betting Market Research Service (SIGMA), which is used to report potential betting fraud and manipulation of sports.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has reached a five-year agreement with the Ministry of the Interior’s General Police Directorate to allow criminal investigations using SIGMA. The police force will be allowed to access SIGMA data and will investigate the alerts raised.

SIGMA was created under amendments to Spain’s 2011 Gambling Act passed in October. The centrally controlled database allows registered bodies to cooperate against match-fixing and fraud through the processing of personal data.

At present the network includes licensed gaming operators, the National Sports Council, sports federations and professional leagues. Next month, the DGOJ is expected to confirm the creation of a Monitoring Commission that will meet once a year but can be convened when requested by the regulator or police directorate.