New Partnership Announced with Malta Gaming Authority

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) have today jointly announced the creation of a new data sharing agreement as part of our wider anti-corruption strategy.

The partnership will see the MGA work with the WPBSA and share information in cases of irregular and suspicious betting activity around snooker events and breaches of the WPBSA Betting Rules.

The MGA aims to provide a fair and transparent gaming sector in Malta against crime and corruption, and to offer protection to minors and vulnerable players. In 2019 the MGA announced the creation of a new Sports Integrity Unit as part of an initiative to increase focus and resources towards the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions.

By working together with the MGA and its Sports Integrity Unit, the WPBSA is confident that this provides another significant boost to the battle against anti-corruption in snooker. A similar agreement has also been reached with the Darts Regulation Authority.

Nigel Mawer QPM, WPBSA Vice Chairman said: “This is an important step forward in the battle against match fixing and betting issues in snooker. I am really pleased to have the support of Antonio and his team in combating corruption in sport.”

Antonio Zerafa, MGA Sports Integrity Manager said: “In these unprecedented times there has been a shift in focus from team sports to more individual sports. Hence, this period proved to be a perfect example of how stakeholders of sports and sports betting integrity need to widen their horizons in terms of collaboration. Our recent data-sharing agreement with the WPBSA places us in a position to be able to also assist individual sports in their fight against corruption.”

Learn more about the MGA HERE.

Learn more about the WPBSA’s Monitoring and Anti-Corruption strategy HERE.