The European Sports Security Association (ESSA) announces today that Ladbrokes, one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies, has joined the association.

ESSA was established in 2005 by some of the leading online sports book operators in Europe to monitor any unusual betting patterns or possible insider betting from within each sport. The organisation aims to provide an early-warning system to alert sport federations about irregularities in betting.

Ladbrokes is the first bookmaker with both an online and an offline operation to join ESSA.

Khalid Ali, Secretary-General of ESSA said: "This is an important step to ensuring ESSA becomes the industry standard organisation that has the support of both online and offline operators. We welcome Ladbrokes and we are sure they have an important contribution to developing industry-wide standards in this area. We would urge all operators in the industry, online and offline to work with ESSA."

Commenting on the move Mike O'Kane, LadbrokesTrading Director said: "The European Sports Security Association is dedicated to improving the sharing of information between betting operators and sports bodies. Currently the issue is surrounded by rumour and sensationalism, whereas in reality the incidence of betting corruption in sport is minimal. By giving regulators and sporting bodies a full and accurate picture of unusual betting patterns we can assist them in protecting the integrity and reputation of both sport and its participants."

Since 2005, ESSA has developed a close working relationship and signed memorandums of understanding with UEFA and many other sport federations such as the IOC, the ATP and FIFA.