IBIA appoints French basketball star as education ambassador
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has appointed French former basketball player Jean-François Reymond as its education ambassador for athletes.
As education ambassador, Reymond (pictured) will work closely with stakeholders such as player associations and IBIA partners in order to establish and support betting education campaigns.
“Protecting the integrity of sport means protecting the integrity of athletes,” Reymond said. “A lack of awareness of a growing number of differing regulatory models and sporting rules is creating an increasingly challenging environment for sportspeople.
“The knock-on impact on their professional careers, reputations and livelihoods can be severe, as we have unfortunately recently witnessed in the NFL.
“That is what motivates me, as an ex-professional myself, to get this important message across to all athletes. I am delighted to be working with the IBIA to support them in their mission to help promote and raise the standard of education and understanding around sports betting.”
Reymond played for 12 years in France’s domestic leagues before becoming secretary general of EU Athletes in 2012. In this role, he led two major European sports betting education projects – “PROtect Integrity” and “PDM Project”.
In addition, from 2016 until 2019 he was a member of the French national platform against the manipulation of sports competitions and he also previously served as vice-president of cross-sport players’ body the World Player Association.
“Jean-François has been at the forefront of betting integrity education in Europe since its inception,” IBIA chief executive Khalid Ali said. “He led the development of the key principles on sports betting for athletes and, as a former professional, his understanding of the importance of establishing trust with, and direct access to, players has been instrumental in shaping the way in which betting education is approached.
“I’m delighted that we can draw on Jean-François’s unrivaled expertise, knowledge and connections to develop bespoke training programmes for sports men and women to assist them in understanding the challenges and threats in this area.”