Anti-Illegal betting features at 59th IFHA conference

The 59th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities is upon us and the theme this year features Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime.

To be held on Monday 6 October in Paris, following the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, delegates will receive articles produced by the IFHA Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime.

In announcing, IFHA Chair Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges stated “We are pleased to report the IFHA is projecting its role as a thought leader in the world of sports integrity with these articles.”

“The IFHA Council moved from the Asian Racing Federation to the IFHA in October 2024, and since then its Quarterly Bulletin of articles covering illegal betting, the impact on racing.”

“These articles were published in the IFHA Council Quarterly Bulletin from August 2024 to May 2025 to illustrate how the IFHA Council is a global thought leader on a wide range of issues.”

“The standalone report from Tom Chignell published in November 2024 covers ‘Modern Day Integrity Bet Monitoring and Betting Analysis Conducted by Horseracing and Sports Regulators.”

“It’s a clear guide how it should be structured and conducted to safeguard integrity in racing and other sports with regulation of betting and the growing global criminal profits from illegal betting.”

“As well as how some of our partners such as INTERPOL, also a member of the IFHA Council, are leading the global response to illegal betting and related crime, and to maintaining integrity in racing.”

Presented in ‘Modern Day Integrity Bet Monitoring and Betting Analysis Conducted by Horseracing and Sports Regulators’ Thomas Chignell says ‘a jockey gives a horse a poor ride and it finishes unplaced – a footballer gets sent off for verbally abusing the referee.’

‘Are these two incidents a genuine part of a race or match or are the actions by the jockey or footballer predetermined to ensure bets placed on the event become profitable.’

‘Racing and sports face a serious threat from betting corruption, and this threat is severe in the illegal market where customer-level information is not shared with racing and sports regulators.’

‘This report is to explain why having betting analysis capabilities is a fundamental and crucial function

of any racing or sports regulator governing body, racing club or racing authority.’

‘It provides concrete and pragmatic examples of key principles of developing and implementing an efficient betting analysis function, and demonstrate how it can address and mitigate betting.’

In August 2024 IFHA Council Chair Martin Purbrick tabled “Offshore Betting and Gambling Licensing – The Pseudo Regulation of Betting” the growth and globalisation of ‘online’ illegal betting.

‘In the past several decades this has been accompanied by the expansion of offshore jurisdictions that purport to license online gambling and betting on markets in other jurisdictions.’

‘This is highly problematic for the effective regulation of betting and other forms of gambling, which

traditionally has been a local national responsibility, and is an impact of illegal betting.’

Recently in May, Martin Purbick produced “Fighting the Odds: A Toolkit for Regulators to Combat Illegal Betting” and earlier “Illegal Betting on Everything Everywhere all at Once in 2025.”

Also, in August 2024 James Porteous tabled “The Invisible Empire: How Singapore court cases unmasked a multi-billion-Dollar Illegal Betting Syndicate,” with research by Jeremy Leung.

Today, the IFHA Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime is a think tank comprising members from organisations engaged in horse racing and sports integrity, law enforcement, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and academia.