Sithebe workload on par with British prime minister’s

It is debatable who has had the busier schedule in London in recent days — British Prime Minister Liz Truss or 4Racing CEO Fundi Sithebe.

Both ladies have had heavy workloads with Truss trying to ease the UK’s cost of living crisis and Sithebe attending a meeting of the World Tote Association (WoTA) general assembly and emphasising SA’s role as 4Racing continues to actively promote pool betting and the critical role it plays in supporting the global horse racing industry.

It was at this meeting that Sithebe’s career path went into the ascendancy as she was voted onto the WoTA board, comprising the world’s leading horse racing industry figures, by the members of WoTA’s general assembly.

Sithebe participated in a panel session on “The Future of Tote Betting”, alongside Michael Fitzsimons, executive director of Wagering Products at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Aymeric Verlet, international manager of the PMU (France), Keith Johnson, chief revenue officer of 1st Bet Technology & Amtote (US) and Hans Lord Skarploth, CEO of ATG (Sweden) in a session moderated by Racing Post journalist Andrew Brown.

In the session Sithebe reiterated 4Racing’s position of being “bookmaker agnostic” and said that while 4Racing is fighting to ensure the sustainability of the tote as a critically important mainstay of the industry, the operator is also open to collaboration and partnerships with bookmakers for the benefit of the broader horse racing industry.

“In our strategy we deliberately said we would partner with bookmakers, rather than considering ourselves a bookmaker competing with other bookmakers. At the end of the day what serves the industry is collaboration, it is partnership, and we can ensure integration from bookmakers into the tote and partner with bookmakers in a way that is not to the detriment of the industry,” said Sithebe.

The 4Racing CEO added that digitisation of the tote products and diversifying its product offering, as it has done with for instance its soccer betting products, is critical in ensuring 4Racing and the horse racing industry’s long-term sustainability.

“Our ethos is to say how do we ensure that for the safeguarding of the industry we diversify and serve the rapidly changing customer needs in the space we are in. Being voted onto the WoTA board underlines 4Racing’s commitment to the tote, off the back of the enhancements we have made to our TAB4Racing digital app.

“Being on the global body that seeks to positively influence the relevance of the tote is a major boost for 4Racing as we collaborate with industry leaders across the world for the sustainability of the horse racing industry,” said Sithebe.

As if the London trip was not sufficient work, Sithebe was also quoted in a 4Racing media release regarding the tie-up between 4Racing and Cape Racing to continue to sell and distribute all of Cape Racing’s meetings globally. She said the deal is “hugely significant”.

“The continued production and collective distribution of 4Racing and Cape Racing’s product internationally — as well as the other sub-Saharan African jurisdictions we are supporting — allows us to showcase Africa’s racing globally, serve our punters and generate key forex revenues to contribute to the rebuilding and growth of racing,” said Sithebe.