The European Sports Security Association (ESSA) is poised to roll out a new software solution which, in conjunction with databases from partner sporting bodies, would make it possible to prevent athletes from betting on their own sports. The innovation is part of a new push by the organisation, which comprises 12 online betting companies, in its effort to become the world’s main body for ensuring the integrity of sports betting.

The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, is facing a possible backlash over its strong anti-corruption efforts during the past year. The exoneration of tennis star Nikolay Davydenko in a prolonged investigation of possible match-fixing last week coincided with a threat by four Italian players suspended in 2008 to take action against the ATP and online betting company Interwetten.com for violation of their privacy.

European football’s governing body UEFA has met with representatives of the European gambling industry in order to improve its monitoring of betting patterns as it battles against match fixing and corruption in its competitions. Meanwhile, it has emerged that of the 15 matches the governing body reported to Europol as being suspicious only one game is still being investigated.

Snooker’s world number two Stephen Maguire is expected to meet detectives investigating suspicious betting patterns on a game he won at the UK Championship as early as today.

Cricket is poised to introduce a new worldwide anti-corruption code tightening up rules on player conduct in the sport, including betting on matches and passing information to bookmakers.

The European Sports Security Association (ESSA), set up by online betting companies to detect possible corruption, favours the creation of a global disciplinary body, akin to the Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to maintain the integrity of sport.

England cricket captain Michael Vaughan says his ‘gut feeling’ is that corruption is still rife in the sport but indications are that corruption is likely to be of a more subtle nature than ever before, with bookmakers paying close attention.

After finding no concerns at the Beijing Olympics, the systematic monitoring of online sports betting to detect suspicious activity made further progress in recent weeks as the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) signed new cooperation agreements with governing bodies including US professional hockey’s NHL.

Five Italian tennis players suspended last year for gambling on matches are suing the Malta-based online sports betting operator Interwetten in a US federal court, alleging that the company ‘maliciously’ supplied details of the players’ wagering histories to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in order to broker future sponsorship arrangements with the tournament organiser.

The International Olympic Committee will monitor betting patterns on Olympic sports for the first time in Beijing this summer. Concerned with suspicions of match-fixing in other sports, the IOC has signed a deal to implement the same early warning system used by football’s governing body FIFA to track betting on World Cup qualifying games.