Sports betting and data firm Sportradar has unveiled its new Social Media Integrity Education Service for sports stakeholders, including rights holders and athletes.
Clubs and leagues will have access to the tools to identify integrity risks from social media platforms, assessing issues such as inappropriate online content and behaviour, the threat of inside information, match-fixing or betting corruption and doping.
Germany’s Ice Hockey League, the Penny Del, is among the first organisations to sign up to the new service.
“We are delighted about the cooperation with Sportradar,” commented Gernot Tripcke, General Manager at Deutsche Eishockey Liga GmbH & Co. KG. “The players of the clubs are all active on social media several times a day and naturally want to make their own accounts as professional as possible.
“The workshops will definitely be helpful in proceeding with the greatest possible security in the social media area. Equally, it’s about anti-manipulation, which has always been extremely important to us as a league.”
The programme will comprise a series of webinars and workshops, in addition to tutorials which will educate both clubs and players on the integrity risks that can arise as well as guidance on how to protect themselves and the reputation of their clubs.
“The integrity and reputational risks which can arise when using social media are far-reaching,” added Andrew Whittingham, Head of Education Integrity Services at Sportradar.
“Not only can failing to act with integrity online put individual users at risk of harm, it can also pose threats to the integrity of teams or clubs, leagues or competitions, or sport as a whole.
“We’re excited to be working closely with Penny Del and we commend the robust approach they’re taking to social media integrity education.
“By combining sessions to educate players, referees and officials simultaneously they are ensuring all participants in ice hockey understand the individual and collective responsibilities they have to maintain the highest integrity standards.”
