In Episode 4 of the Integrity Insights Podcast, CEO of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), Jonny Gray, discussed the threats to the integrity of tennis and sports as a whole, and highlighted what can be done by betting companies to assist with this goal.

Who is it?

Jonny Gray, CEO of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) – the independent body for safeguarding the integrity of worldwide professional tennis, particularly against betting-related corruption.

What is being said?

“We in the ITA want to protect the sport from corrupters and those corrupters, in turn, wish to corrupt the sport,” Gray stated.

“So, this is an adversarial situation, and those corrupters range from fairly unsophisticated people, potentially even in the sport itself, through to organised crime.

“Europol just warned us, a few months ago, that organised crime is really focusing on the lower professional levels of tennis and football as well, and trying to corrupt it.”

He continued: “I think betting companies and other data companies and others involved in the supply of live scoring data to the betting industry need to continue their efforts to innovate in the way that they detect anomalous betting patterns, to ensure that they vary in the algorithms they’ve got so that they’re not predictable or easy to easy to counter, and to really engage with us, and other sports, in this battle in this adversarial situation.”

Additionally, when asked about the prevalence of integrity threats in tennis, Gray responded that in tennis: “Unlike team sports, it only takes one player to be corrupted, to influence the outcome of the match, and the nuanced betting that was impossible is possible now with in-play betting.”

Why should I watch it?

To gain insights and knowledge into the threats posed by sports betting corruption to tennis and other professional sports, how authorities are combating these threats and what betting companies can do to assist them.

Where can I see more?

Integrity Insights Podcast on Spotify

You can catch our review of Episode Three here.