Euroleague Basketball has moved to enhance its integrity and sports safeguarding efforts via a partnership with Sportradar, the Swiss sports tech and data company.
The pan-European basketball league will specifically partner with St Gallen-based company’s integrity division, Sportradar Integrity Services (SIS), utilising its AI-backed Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS),
Sportradar’s integrity solutions will be deployed across the Euroleague’s tournaments, including the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the BKT EuroCup and the under-18s Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament.
Ibrahim Erkan, Euroleague Basketball’s Sports Director, said: “Euroleague Basketball is fully committed to guarantee that all games are disputed under an unquestionable Fair Play environment, practising a zero-tolerance policy for any inadequate behaviour.
“Sportradar Integrity Services’ vast knowledge in the field of sports integrity is an invaluable control tool to reinforce the monitoring protocol deployed in our competitions to guarantee that they fulfil the most strict moral and ethical principles and values such as honesty, honour, dependability, and trustworthiness.”
As well as utilising its UFDS solution for Euroleague, Sportradar will also organise anti-match fixing educational programmes through its Education & Prevention division.
The end goal of this is to prevent and deter match fixing using in-person workshops and an online education platform. For more complex cases, the Euroleague can also use the Sportradar Intelligence & Investigation Services if necessary.
The partnership marks Sportradar’s second integrity deal of 2024, following a renewal of its long-running arrangement with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The company also closed 2023 with another integrity deal, signing a multi-year contract with the ATP Tour.
Andreas Krannich, Sportradar Integrity Services EVP, said: “It is a privilege to partner with Euroleague Basketball, the governing body of Europe’s two premier men’s basketball competitions.
“At Sportradar we have witnessed growing integrity issues across global basketball in recent years, so it is vitally important that such a significant player in global basketball has acted by opting to utilise our robust and varied integrity solutions. We look forward to supporting Euroleague Basketball’s integrity programme for the next two years.”
