The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) recently issued a notice to all sports betting licensed operators in the country, warning them about maintaining integrity in their activity.

Pandemic leads to a warning

The MGA is concerned about the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local sports betting operators. The global shutdowns have led to the cancellation of major sporting events around the world. Sports betting operators now have nothing to offer their users. The regulator believes that these unprecedented times could lead to desperation amongst operators because of which they may take bigger risks.

It suggests that “betting on events with different risk profiles to those traditionally offered,” could become common. These events do not run in the same professional way that other sporting event because of which risks are significantly higher. This may include esports events as well.

What does the regulator want??

The MGA wants sports betting operators to be careful and ensure that eSports matches are not pre-recorded. The risk team at the bookmakers must know if there is a pre-set delay between the public broadcast and the annual match. The warning is even more important at this time because wagering on NBA 2K20 tournament was suspended on Monday after the results were leaked online. The MGA also wants bookmakers to verify information related to the officials and participants and ensure that they are not betting on the results.

The regulator suggests that all eSports events now happen online and do not have the standard integrity checks that you find in real sporting events. Therefore, checking and verifying the integrity controls of the tournament is very important. The bookmakers also need to check if the tournament’s participants are professionals before they decide to make a public offer.

It also wants operators to clarify to customers that there is a difference between virtual sports and eSports. It includes events like the Virtual Grand National as a virtual sport where the result of the event is determined by a computer algorithm. It seeks better oversight of suspicious betting activity which should be reported to gambling regulators. Any non-betting suspicious activity should be reported to event organizers and corresponding sports governing bodies.

The operator recently canceled the license of Bimbabet Ltd for not providing the list of its key functions, two years of financial statements and its annual license and compliance contribution fees to the MGA.