While Rio de Janeiro is celebrating its winning bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has held its XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen. The IOC has announced the setting up of its own company, International Sports Monitoring, based in Switzerland to oversee a new system intended to monitor and prevent corrupt betting on the games. The system will be in place for next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver as well as the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Since the 2004 Athens Games betting on the Olympics has increased. The Beijing Olympics were monitored by the company Early Warning System, set up by FIFA, and no suspicious betting patterns were discovered. In 2006 the IOC laid down rules banning all accredited competitors and officials from betting on the Olympics. Results from the IOC monitoring company will be available to all sports federations but will work independently. No company associated with gambling is allowed to sponsor the Olympic Games.

International Sports Monitoring will analyse betting on the Olympics and highlight irregularities for investigation. It will obtain information from bookmakers and other sources. Match fixing and irregular betting on sports have been described as a more serious problem than doping. In future any Olympic athlete suspected of gambling will be called to face a disciplinary commission, as happens in suspected doping occurrences. (E-10.05.09)

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