The two organisations are planning to seek to educate and raise awareness among elite British athletes involved in the Olympics and Paralympics about betting related issues and the role they can play in preventing corruption in their sports.

The new deal follows a major conference held in Lausanne last month which saw the International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), public authorities and the betting sector gathering to discuss the potential dangers of betting and corruption.

Betfair will be providing BAC with material and educational matter which will help put the message across to top athletes.

They already have a similar deal with the Professional Players Federation, which represents some of Britain's top sportsmen and women.

Pete Gardner, the chief executive of the BAC, said: "The BAC is delighted to announce Betfair as its first official sponsor, their support will be vital in ensuring athletes receive a key stand in their ongoing education, as Olympic and Paralympics sport becomes ever more professional."

David Yu, the chief executive of Betfair, said: "We are delighted to be working with the BAC.

"It is a vital step in our ongoing efforts to safeguard the integrity of sport.

"We have seen that there are very few integrity issues when betting on sport is entirely transparent and when sportsmen and women understand the rules in place and penalties for breaking them."

The IOC set-up a new system last year to watch for corrupt betting linked to Olympics competitions and it was used for the first time in Vancouver earlier this year.

A new Swiss company, International Sports Monitoring, has been established to oversee the system, which will also be used for the London 2012 Games.

It did not detect any suspicious patterns in Vancouver but IOC President Jacques Rogge has still claimed that cheating driven by betting is the biggest threat to sport after doping.

Karen Pickering, the chair of the BAC, said: "At a time when the IOC has just agreed on a series of recommendations for Olympic sport, I am delighted that the BAC will be working with Betfair to educate British athletes across all Olympic, Paralympic and world class sports in how they can prevent corruption and protect the integrity of sport."

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