Integrity protection measures announced ahead of Men’s EHF EURO 2024
The European Handball Federation (EHF) has today announced its enhanced integrity strategy ahead of the upcoming Men’s EHF EURO 2024 in Germany, starting on 10 January.
Working in collaboration with Sportradar Integrity Services – the official integrity partner of the EHF – a range of integrity measures are being deployed before and during the tournament to help ensure first-class, multi-faceted integrity protections are in place across the entire event.
Sports technology company Sportradar is providing anti-match-fixing education to all match officials before the tournament, ensuring that those in charge of proceedings will know how to recognise and react to any potential integrity risks.
During the tournament, Sportradar will also assess and monitor betting patterns on matches from EHF EURO 2024 using its AI-powered Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) to help detect any potential integrity issues and further protect the event.
With 24 teams participating in the Men’s EHF EURO 2024, 65 matches will be played from 10 to 28 January across three competition stages until the winning nation is known.
EHF Secretary General Martin Hausleitner said: “The EHF is committed to protecting the integrity of its flagship national team competition, and by utilising a multifaceted approach to integrity, we believe that the EHF EURO 2024 is well safeguarded. It is vital to ensure that the integrity of our top events remains uncompromised, and Sportradar’s support will help strengthen this effort so that fans of handball across the world can enjoy the tournament safe in the knowledge that gold standard integrity measures have been put in place.”
Sportradar Integrity Services EVP Andreas Krannich said: “Our partners at the EHF have been proactive through this strategic effort for EHF EURO 2024. Educating match officials on integrity risks ahead of the tournament is an important step for protecting the sport, and we will also monitor all betting during the tournament with our expert technology and analysts.”
The anti-match-fixing education is part of wider-ranging cooperation between the EHF and Sportradar, launched ahead of the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia.
This education programme is designed to provide indoor and beach handball EHF referees with the guiding principles and issues related to the integrity of the sport. The mandatory two-year course includes a blend of face-to-face and online workshops and ends with an assessment via the EHF’s online education platform.
It aims to safeguard the sport’s top European competitions, athletes and stakeholders on a long-term basis and further underlines the EHF’s commitment to protecting the integrity of its sport.
Together with the use of UFDS to monitor all EHF events, it is a crucial pillar of the EHF’s association with Sportradar.
Photo © Kenny Beele
