SA Rugby boot match-fixing into touch

SA Rugby has partnered with Sportradar, a Swiss-based global leader in providing data services to media companies, bookmakers, sports federations and state authorities, to operate a match fixing detection service.

“We have recently seen allegations of match fixing in other South African sports and it is a threat that SA Rugby is not complacent about,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

“In the past few years, World Rugby has really stepped up their quest in ensuring the integrity of the game is upheld with their ‘Keep Rugby Onside’ campaign and we fully support that.

“All our teams and competitions count amongst the best in the world, so it’s imperative that we monitor global sport to spot the threats, on the horizon.

“Sportradar can safeguard us from these threats. Their data-related expertise will ensure that their betting monitoring systems, which are employed worldwide, will give us the most powerful tool available to spot and root out concerns.”

Sportradar’s Managing Director Rights Owners, Andreas Krannich, added: “This is our first data or integrity partnership in Africa so I am grateful to SA Rugby for their initiative.

“SA Rugby’s mission statement says they want to ‘provide strategic leadership and standards of excellence to make South Africa the best rugby nation in the world’ and I think they have shown just that with this new partnership with Sportradar.”