08 Jul 2010
The British Athletes Commission (BAC) has signed a 3 year agreement with Betfair. This establishes Betfair as the BAC’s first ever official sponsor.
The two organisations will seek to educate and raise awareness among elite athletes in all Olympic Paralympic and world class disciplines about betting related issues and the role they can play in preventing corruption in their sports.
Pete Gardner, Chief Executive of the BAC commented:
“The BAC is delighted to announce Betfair as its first sponsor, their support will be vital in ensuring athletes receive a key strand in their ongoing education, as Olympic and Paralympic sport becomes ever more professional.”
Karen Pickering, BAC Chair said:
“At a time when the IOC has just agreed on a series of recommendations for Olympic sport, I am delighted that the BAC will be working with Betfair to educate British athletes across all Olympic, Paralympic and World Class sports in how they can prevent corruption and protect the integrity of sport.”
David Yu, Betfair Chief Executive said:
“We are delighted to be working with the BAC, a vital step in our on-going efforts to safeguard the integrity of sport. We have seen that there are very few integrity issues when betting on sport is entirely transparent and when sportsmen and women understand the rules in place and penalties for breaking them. This partnership gives us a unique opportunity to work together in educating athletes about this issue in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
The agreement came about following a consultation process of elite sport by the BAC, as it became apparent that not enough was being done to educate athletes on the potential risks posed by an increase in betting on Olympic and Paralympic sport. The BAC approached Betfair, who agreed to assist practically in addressing the problem. Betfair will assist the BAC in producing educational materials as well as presenting at its annual conference
The BAC acts as the unified voice of all Olympic, Paralympic and World Class funded athletes. It communicates their views to the major decision makers within British sport, and promotes athlete representation within their sports. The BAC works to provide all athletes with a way to make their voices heard and a pathway to pursue and resolve any problems they encounter within their sport.
Betfair is the world’s biggest online sports betting company and pioneered the first successful betting exchange in 2000. The company now processes over six million transactions a day from its three million registered customers around the world.
Betfair has twice been named the UK’s ‘Company of the Year’ by the Confederation of British Industry and has won two prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, being recognised for Innovation in 2003 and most recently for International Trade in 2008.
Betfair currently employs over 2,300 people, principally in London, Malta and Australia. The company is a licensed betting operator in the UK, and holds further licenses in Tasmania, Austria, Italy and Malta.
As well as this agreement with the BAC Betfair also has a partnership with the Professional Players Federation.
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