Something must be done to curb the rapidly growing obsession with gambling on sport. Clearly, it is ruining the games we love. The cricket World Cup is the latest and most extreme example of why betting on anything and everything to do with sport is potentially disastrous.
If the murder of Bob Woolmer is proven to be linked to match-fixing, surely it must be the last straw in a long list of devastating effects that gambling has had.
Match-fixing is a crisis in cricket. The days of Hansie Cronje’s tearful admissions about taking money to arrange results are long gone. Yet, the smoke seems to have only thickened. Today, people anywhere on the planet can bet on just about anything within a particular match. A person in London can bet on Jacques Kallis bowling a wide in his 6th over. Someone in Auckland can lay $1000 on England to score less than 243. Another gambler can bet on Chris Gayle getting caught out. It’s known as `spread betting’ and provides so much scope for gambling that it’s scary.
But it’s not just cricket that is under threat.
Rugby league is another sport whose love affair with the punt is incongruent with the sport’s aims. Players cannot bet on games, yet the NRL has taken on a massive sponsorship deal with a huge betting company. What kind of a message does this send to the players and supporters? What it says is ‘We don’t condone the activity – but we’ll use the proceeds from it’. This is ludicrous!
Souths player Joe Williams said last week that he was glad he scored the game’s first try last weekend because his mother had placed a bet on it. What was stopping Williams from asking his mother to place the bet for him? What was stopping Williams’ teammates from making sure he had the ball in his hands to place over the line? What was stopping the opposition from allowing Williams to score first? And so on.
The obsession with gambling has moved on a long way from the days when naive Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were forced to admit giving a bookmaker team information before a match. Betting has infiltrated every sport on the planet and is causing suspicion, heartache and, possibly now, a high-profile murder. In the meantime the entire spirit of sport is being eroded. This has to stop.
Dave
Guest
The thing about gambling is that the ramifications are two-pronged. Not only does gambling open up possibilities for match-fixing and all sorts of other deceitful behaviour, probably the most upsetting thing is that betting creates a whole different mindset in sport. Suddenly, winning the game isn't all that important. What's more important is winning the bet. That's what really troubles me..
Zac
Guest
I notice that even the Sydney Morning Herald now has a betting section in their weekend sports - it's promotion masquerading as content. And Channel 9 quotes odds during the cricket (no surprise given they are partners in betfair Australia). To me, though, the worst thing about gambling in sport is that it takes away the thrill of great upsets. As soon as I heard Ireland has beaten Pakistan, I have to say I felt equal parts surprise and concern. What were the odds of Ireland winning that match...and how much did the bookies stand to win if it happened?
Barrie McBride
Guest
My wife and I agree totally with thoughts expressed. I know that there will always be those who will bet on anything and I also know that there is no possibility of returning to days before gambling on sports events was allowed but believe that is so sad. Watching coverage of the Hong Kong Sevens I found it bizarre that an employee of the TAB was referred to several times and quoted odds on the various games.
spiro
Guest
I entirely agree with David Sygall. Cricket is an obvious target for gamblers because there are so many incidents, every ball in fact, that can give rise to a bet and, therefore, the 'spread betting' system. It's often forgotten because of the mantra of 'it's not cricket' that cricket was originally a gambling game. A gambling scandal at Lords not long after the ground started featuring cricket matches say gambling banned at the ground until the 1960s. The important point about gambling in other sports should not be forgotten, either. In my book on the history of the Rugby World Cup tournament, Watching The 2007 World Cup (Allen and Unwin, Awa Press), which will be punlished in Australia and New Zealand on 1 May, I give several instances where bizarre refereeing has given rise to suggestions that the influence of bookmakers may have been in play.