RFU Extends With Sportradar

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has extended its existing three-year integrity partnership with Sportradar, ensuring that the two parties will work together until 2019.

The RFU first employed Sportradar in 2013 and since then the match-fixing monitoring, prevention and intelligence company has overseen activities and odds patterns across over 550 betting operators worldwide for a range of rugby union competitions and fixtures.

For the next three years, Sportradar will monitor all matches of the Aviva Premiership, the Greene King IPA Championship, the Anglo Welsh Cup, the British & Irish Cup, as well as the Old Mutual Wealth Series. Altogether, this coverage will total over 420 matches per year.

RFU, chief executive officer, Ian Ritchie said: “Although rugby union is not necessarily viewed as a high risk sport when it comes to match fixing, we remain determined to be proactive in working to protect the game. We are delighted that with Sportradar by our side, we will continue to offer a credible, respected and effective defence”.

Andreas Krannich, Sportradar, managing director for integrity services added: “We are proud of the reputation we have built up in the rugby union ecosystem. The RFU were one of the first federations in the sport to employ our award-winning Fraud Detection System and we couldn’t be happier that we will have the opportunity to work with them for a further three years. By developing our work with leading law enforcement agencies and sport rights holders like the RFU, we will continue to ensure that the sports that fans in England and beyond love, remain thrilling and of course honest”.

The latest deal sees Sportradar Integrity Services keep the RFU in its rugby portfolio of clients, which also includes World Rugby, the Six Nations, European Professional Championship Rugby, New Zealand Rugby Union, Australian Rugby Union, South African Rugby Union and Italian Rugby Union.