Director Sung-chul Lee, the KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing Director, held a betting integrity monitoring agreement MOU signing ceremony with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) at the seminar room of the Korean Cultural Centre UK on Tuesday, 5th August.

The MOU with IBIA represents a landmark moment for South Korean sports integrity, marking the first cooperation of its kind between IBIA and an Asian nation sports body, underscoring the significance of this new collaboration. The agreement demonstrates a commitment to aligning with global best practices in betting integrity and serves as a significant step in South Korea’s broader international engagement with the regulated sports betting sector.

In 2024, South Korea’s betting industry market recorded total sales of 25.3 trillion won (approx. €15.7 billion) and approximately 22.86 million users, establishing itself as a major foundation for public leisure and public fund creation. Among them, K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing recorded annual sales of 1.8859 trillion won (approx. €1.17 billion) and 12.5 million users (online/offline total), accounting for about 7.5% of the total betting industry sales in South Korea. Since the introduction of the system, K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing has contributed greatly to the promotion of national sports and the expansion of public finance by raising approximately 1.9464 trillion won (approx. €1.21 billion) for the National Sports Promotion Fund.

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At the event, General Director Sung-chul Lee stated, “Through this agreement, KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing has elevated the status of K-Sports and has taken a leap forward to global standards.” He added, “I would like to express my deep gratitude to CEO Khalid Ali and the IBIA officials for their cooperation in making this agreement successful. Following this agreement, we intend to supply the KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing products to the international betting market, protected by this important integrity collaboration.”

IBIA is the leading global voice on integrity for the regulated betting industry, representing many of the world’s largest licensed operators. A not-for-profit organisation established in 2005, IBIA manages a global monitoring and alert network that tracks transactional activity to detect suspicious betting patterns across its members’ markets, which generate over $300bn in sports betting revenue per annum. The association works closely with major sports bodies like FIFA, UEFA, the ITIA and the IOC, as well as regulators worldwide, to support the fight against betting-related corruption. Committed to transparency, IBIA publishes regular integrity reports and requires all members to meet strict due diligence and betting integrity standards.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, commented: “This agreement marks an important step forward, not only for KSPO and the integrity of K-Cycle and K-Motorboat Racing, but for the advancement of betting integrity standards across Asia. IBIA is delighted to support KSPO in setting a benchmark for clean, transparent and accountable sports betting operations in the region. We look forward to building on this partnership and helping to portect the integrity of K-Sports’ products.”

Professor Jae-kwang Shin of Seokyeong University commented, “The agreement with IBIA is an essential gateway for entering the global betting market, and the process of meeting its standards is quite challenging. The fact that this agreement with KSPO was one of the first in Asia is a remarkable achievement for South Korea’s sports and can be seen as a great accomplishment.” He also evaluated, “In the future, the KSPO will be able to play a significant role as a leader in the betting industry in Asian countries, and this also provides KSPO with a good opportunity to engage with IBIA’s vast global network.”

Through this agreement, KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing has committed to working in alignment with IBIA’s monitoring and reporting framework, strengthening its ability to identify and act on suspicious activity in the betting market. The partnership serves to reinforce South Korea’s sports integrity infrastructure and ensure compliance with internationally recognised standards. With the support of IBIA’s monitoring platform and global network, KSPO aims to build confidence among stakeholders and support the integrity of the betting environment both domestically and abroad.

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The completion of this MOU also involved FnS Co. Ltd. (CEO Ho-young Choi), a sports consulting firm that has maintained a strong cooperative relationship with KSPO and has been actively pursuing international opportunities over the past three years. The firm’s extensive network across the UK and Europe played a particularly effective role in facilitating this agreement.

The signing ceremony was attended by Sung-chul Lee, General Director of the KSPO K-Cycle & K-Motorboat Racing Headquarters, Myung-ho Jeon, Senior Manager of the KSPO, Ho-young Choi, CEO of FnS Co., Ltd., and Professor Jae-kwang Shin of Seokyeong University. From IBIA, CEO Khalid Ali and Jason Foley-Train, Head of International Development, were present.

In a key ruling, on 1 August 2025 the UK High Court granted SPRIBE an interim injunction preventing a Georgian company, Aviator LLC, from launching or marketing its copycat crash game in the UK. The order was granted to protect SPRIBE’s award-winning Aviator game.

Speaking today, SPRIBE’s founder, David Natroshvili, said: “I am pleased that the highly respected UK Court supports our position and has granted an injunction preventing Aviator LLC from launching and promoting its copycat game. SPRIBE created the Aviator crash game in 2018 and is the sole owner of the game globally. We will continue to take all necessary steps globally to protect SPRIBE, our partners and players from any third parties who seek to undermine or infringe our rights.”

Granting of UK High Court injunction
SPRIBE obtained a UK gambling licence for its Aviator game in December 2020 and has been very successful in the UK market. A Georgian company, Aviator LLC, recently stated its intent to release a copycat game in the UK, also branded Aviator, and has engaged in promotional communications targeted at SPRIBE’s UK customers.
This copycat game is not authorised by SPRIBE. It blatantly infringes the copyright works which SPRIBE owns in its game and seeks to misappropriate the goodwill which SPRIBE has created in its Aviator brand. To prevent the clear risk of reputational and financial damage from any unlawful action by Aviator LLC, SPRIBE has sought, and now won, an interim injunction preventing Aviator LLC from launching or marketing its copycat game in the UK.

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Throughout these proceedings and elsewhere, Aviator LLC has provided conflicting and contradictory evidence.  At the hearing Aviator LLC sought to evade responsibility for this matter, including attempting to misdirect the UK Court by obscuring its role through the creation of a shifting network of licensing entities, denying previously stated plans to enter the UK market and refusing to provide key evidence. This led to Aviator LLC’s conduct being described by the Court as ‘childlike’ and ‘petulant’.

Further information relating to bad faith actions by Aviator LLC
This activity by Aviator LLC forms part of a continuing chain of bad faith actions by Georgian businessman Temur Ugulava, who is behind Aviator LLC and a series of connected companies, aimed at exploiting the commercial success and international reputation of SPRIBE’s brand.

Unfounded and opportunistic claims were launched in the Georgian courts last year by Aviator LLC, seeking to expropriate – for the territory of Georgia only – the Aviator branding and logo used by SPRIBE. The flawed Georgian ruling followed an unusually rapid and procedurally flawed legal process in a jurisdiction where concerns around judicial independence and transparency have been widely documented.

SPRIBE continues firmly to reject these claims brought by Aviator LLC, which related solely to the use of a specific logo and branding in Georgia and did not concern ownership of the Aviator game itself. SPRIBE’s trademarks remain valid and protected outside of Georgia, including in the EU and UK.

SPRIBE is aware that Aviator LLC and companies affiliated to it (such as Aviator Studio Group or AviGroup) have directly contacted SPRIBE customers, falsely claiming to be the owner of the intellectual property rights in the branding of SPRIBE’s Aviator game, whilst at the same time promoting their own copycat version of it. These claims are bogus. The Aviator game, including its features, branding and intellectual property, are entirely created and owned by SPRIBE. SPRIBE will continue to take all necessary steps to defend its rights against any third parties who seek to undermine or infringe them.

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Aviator LLC has also sought to use the flawed ruling in Georgia to launch spurious proceedings elsewhere. Such claims are without merit and will be vigorously defended.