GLMS secures Ontario licence to offer integrity services

GLMS will use the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) licence to support its member, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), with monitoring and education services. GLMS said the services are part of its activities to raise awareness of fighting the manipulation of sports competitions, thus supporting inter-jurisdictional and inter-stakeholder cooperation efforts to combat the global problem.

GLMS obtained its licence days after Ontario launched its legal online gambling market.

Ludovico Calvi, GLMS president, said: “I am delighted that GLMS has become one of the first registered integrity bodies to win approval from the AGCO. GLMS has always supported regulated, responsible, and sustainable betting market environments, as bans have often favoured the proliferation of black market, criminal organisations and match fixing.”

GLMS said it enjoys a sound working collaboration with AGCO and has also provided its perspective to AGCO in terms of developing the registrar’s standards for gaming, which were published in the summer of 2021.

Calvi added: “We believe that the standards set by AGCO will create a sustainable sport betting market in Ontario and can be considered a best practice for other Canadian provinces. We are very excited to provide integrity services to our current and future members in Ontario and other provinces.”

The launch of Ontario’s online gambling market followed almost three years of work after the provincial government revealed plans to end the lottery’s online gambling monopoly in April 2019. The government in 2020 introduced legislation to allow for a licensing regime.

Major gambling groups such as FanDuel and BetMGM have obtained licences to operate in Ontario.