Sports Fraud British Horseracing Authority approach to sports betting fraud

Five years ago, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) conducted a full and independent review of its Security Department (now the Integrity Services Department). Whilst the review commended the department’s investigative capabilities, it highlighted a need to improve its information management systems. A recommendation was made for the installation of a new electronic intelligence system to replace the existing paper-based operation. In this article Yogita Popat, Security Operations Manager at the BHA, describes how they turned the results of the Security Review into a major opportunity for the BHA, streamlining their information management and implementing a new electronic police-style intelligence system. Read on to find out what she learnt along the way and how she built upon the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Ten Point Plan for dealing with betting in sport, to develop her own Ten Point Plan for implementing and running an intelligence system in sport.

The BHA is the regulatory and governing body for horseracing in Great Britain, and as part of its role, the Integrity Services department is responsible for identifying and investigating possible breaches of the rules of racing within the sport. Breaches can be anything from employment and payment disputes, to the more serious offences of corruption.