The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will launch a Joint Integrity Unit (JIU) for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games to monitor irregular betting patterns and potential match-fixing across all Olympic competitions. The unit will operate from 30 January to 24 February 2026, covering the build-up and the full Olympic schedule.
The JIU will bring together the IOC, the Milan-Cortina 2026 Organising Committee and Italian public authorities, creating a single hub to share intelligence between sports disciplinary bodies, law-enforcement agencies and judicial authorities. Its mandate includes tracking suspicious betting activity, investigating any attempt to manipulate competitions, and coordinating referrals when potential criminal behaviour is detected.
This is not the first time the IOC has deployed such a structure – similar mechanisms have been used since London 2012 – but the emphasis on sports betting integrity is much stronger now, reflecting the rapid global growth of regulated and unregulated markets. While the Olympics have historically been more affected by doping scandals than betting scandals, the IOC is moving proactively to close any opening for organised crime or insider manipulation.
For the betting industry, the message is clear: regulated operators with robust monitoring systems are partners, not enemies, in protecting sport. The real risk lies in unlicensed or opaque markets where there is no data-sharing, no traceability and no accountability. As more major events adopt the JIU model – combining public authorities, regulators and betting operators – integrity monitoring is becoming a standard requirement, not an optional add-on.
