Sports Betting Audit for 2009 Positive

The European Sports Security Association has announced the results of a review of all bets placed during 2009 with its 13 sports book members, and the news is good - only one sporting event proved to be suspicious.

ESSA investigated 45 sporting events in total in which there were found to be unusual betting patterns.

The one incident that failed its review was related to a domestic football match and is now under criminal investigation in the relevant country.

The association said the finds showed that its members followed proper security regulations.

"These figures highlight the importance of sophisticated, transparent and well-regulated security procedures in sports betting," said ESSA chief Khalid Ali. "ESSA members are rightly proud of the lead they are taking in addressing the issue of integrity in sports, and look forward to continuing to work with sports governing bodies to keep fraud out of sports."

The ESSA is a non-profit organization that counts some of the leading sports book operators in Europe as its members. It was set up in 2005 following a German soccer scandal involving a referee named Robert Hoyzer, which led to the German state monopoly losing millions of euros because it was unable to detect irregular betting patterns.

The association has signed memoranda of understanding with some of Europe and the world's biggest sporting bodies, including world soccer governing body FIFA and European soccer governing body UEFA.