Heath Shaw was suspended on Friday for placing a bet on an AFL match. No problems with that – it was an idiotic thing for him to do, and his punishment should serve as a warning to all players and club officials.
If you are a player or an administrator at an AFL club, you must not bet on the sport. Simple.
On the same day that Shaw was punished by the AFL for his foolishness, his captain was also fined for mentioning to family members ahead of the Magpies round nine match against Adelaide that he would be starting in the forward line.
Maxwell did not mention this with the intention of securing a financial gain, it was simply part of a more general discussion he had about his football with a family member.
The simple fact is that Maxwell’s disclosure to his family would not have been an issue ten years ago. The sports gambling industry has cornered the AFL insidiously over the past decade or so with the introduction of exotic bets. The landscape has changed, and it is sports gambling which has changed the goalposts, not the players or the AFL.
The information which landed Maxwell in hot water never used to be considered sensitive information. It has only become so with the addition of exotic bets as another means of gambling on sport.
As I have written previously on The Roar, gambling has sport by the balls. The rise of spot betting now means players can face censure for answering what are completely reasonable questions from family and friends.
The simple enquiry of “How’s work going?” must now be met with an evasive or unenlightening response, to prevent players running the risk of putting themselves in an awkward position should any disclosure be considered sensitive information.
Let’s be clear here – football players kick and throw around an inflatable ball. They don’t hold the nuclear codes or work for ASIO.
Mandating that players are not to discuss what are otherwise rudimentary details of their work with family members is a joke, and a burden the players should rally against.
As if media conferences weren’t dull enough already with players delivering stock-standard responses, the dinner table conversation at the Maxwell household could soon become just as bland.
Maxwell gamely appeared on Channel Seven’s AFL Game Day program on Sunday. During his time on the show, Maxwell mentioned that players are allowed to discuss so-called sensitive information with family members, so long as they add on the rider that “this information must not be used for betting purposes.”
Should Maxwell have divulged the same information to his family, but insisted afterwards that he had told them not to use this information for gambling purposes, and his family had gone against his advice and gambled anyway, would the AFL still seek to penalise him or his family who placed the bets?
Will AFL players now feel compelled to place a voice recorder next to the salt and pepper shaker on the dinner table next time they discuss details of an upcoming match with family members, just to cover their backsides?
Furthermore, are players allowed to freely discuss sensitive information with family members so long as they mention that the information must not be used for betting purposes?
Will the caveat “You cannot use this information for betting purposes” be the new “allegedly” – tacked on the end of all statements to cover oneself from possible tribunal or judicial action?
How far will this go?
Suppose a fringe player who normally plays in the backline is told by his coach that he will spend more time in the midfield for the remainder of the season.
Should the player refrain from telling his family and friends, just in case a family member places a bet that he will be the leading possession winner in an upcoming match? In this instance, would the player mentioning that his role in the team is changing be considered sensitive information?
The infiltration of exotic bets into the gambling landscape now affects what players can discuss with their friends and family, and the line is still not clear what constitutes sensitive information, and what is not.
How long before the next case?
Follow Michael on Twitter @michaelfilosi
brendan
Guest
Following the precedents set by ''angry'' Anderson he would be suspended for most of the season and incur a huge fine.The Afl have put every one on notice shut your mouth or we will get the FBI on to you.Correct me if i am wrong these are small bets from fanily and friends not shady transactions involving betting syndicates.One way to regulate betting is to use the tab pool approach rather than a fixed odds approach .That way if anyone loaded up they would be betting against themselve.Another suggestion is a small percentsge of exotic bets over and above taxation be redirected to grass roots football to help assist the game.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
That was a great article. :D
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I don't think you condone it. However I don't agree that because most people will get off scott free, we shouldn't do anything about it. Just because it's incredibly difficult to police doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Gambling is too big a threat to a sport's integrity not to be policed simply because it's too difficult.
clipper
Guest
Aware - Just a small point. I agree that exotic betting is a blight on a number of sports, but in Australia you can't do internet gambling on live bets - they have to be phoned in.
Michael Filosi
Roar Guru
I covered that and other points related to sports gambling in an earlier Roar article. Check it out at... http://bit.ly/flLhiv
Aware
Guest
Well, my being a first class honours graduate and a Masters student would tend to contradict your indictment of my eduational level, Grant S (what does the S stand for?) It must be patently obvious to you that spot fixing is criminal. Unless you are blind to it or are another one of the AFL lackeys that turn up here periodically.
"amazonfan" I agree with you entirely but as I stated it is impossible to police the entire spectrum. One or two cases will be found but most will get off scott free and if you don't believe this happens, then you should read the financial columns on a daily basis. It is a sad fact that if Maxwell and his family had decided to lie then the AFL would not have had a case as it would be unable to prove where the information came from. Several people seem to have taken my reply to mean that I condone illegal activity in our game. I do not condone it in our game or anywhere else but am not that naive to think it doesn't happen.
"Aware" it appears that English is not your "mother" language or you would be able to see that nowhere in my reply did I state that I approved of criminal activity. Making a statement ie. "the world is round" in no way implies this is good, bad or otherwise. I presume you thought you were being witty but your level of education and intelligence let you down.
geoff
Guest
Exotic bets exist for one reason only. They make money for companies in the betting sector. Whether its AFL, NRL, cricket or marbles is irrelevant. My opinion is that exotic betting has the potential to decimate a game. Cricket, for example has been tarnished forever. The solution. Do nothing. Gambling exists because the people laying the odds have a statistical advantage and punters are stupid enough to think they can win. Let the bookies take a few bad hits because of match fixing and change the odds in favour of the punters and exotic betting will dry up quicker than the nullabor in summer. Rid sport of this destructive blight by doing nothing.
brendan
Guest
Apparently Shaw was caught on cctv at the tab does anyone know how the imformation regarding Maxwell was detected.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
On a related note, I was watching AFL Classified last nite, and Craig Hutchinson used betting terms to describe a team's favoritism. I think that is pretty disappointing that we've reached this point, where someone can say a team were a "$1.50 to win."
amazonfan
Roar Guru
GantS- "Also, as with insider trading, the person with the best information makes the most money. It has always been that way and it will always be that way as it is literally impossible to police." Inside trading is illegal. It is a crime to make money on the stock market using information which isn't available to the general public, and it is still policed. As such, there is no reason why gambling using inside information shouldn't be policed.
Aware
Guest
The difference is that until the last few years you didn't have betting broadcast and promoted during games on scoreboards and on the internet progress scores, where you can press a button to spot bet.
Swampy
Guest
Good luck if you can fix a part within a game of AFL. Exactly why exotic or spot bets can't be continued to be offered. Under ground betting will go on regardless. Don't condem the poor fools who dare talk about the match with their mothers or have a brainless moment with a mate a a TAB. These matters are minor when compared to the damage the proliferation of gambling is doing to sport and society at large.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Swampy, Does the phrase 'spot fixing' mean anything to you ?
Swampy
Guest
This was never about match fixing but about third parties having inside knowledge that may improve their odds to win a bet. These betting organisations, Crown included, pressure governments and sporting bodies to invent rules to maximise their profit. James Packer knows too well how much he skims off the black money that runs through his casinos and the addicts he bleeds daily to build his mansion on Sydney harbour. Never once have they been fined in spite of the police admitting that it takes place. On line betting is just as corrupt. So Aware do you approve of this criminal activity.
Swampy
Guest
Agree. Another reason to put more restrictions on gambling and ban exotic betting. Do clubs at the bottom of the ladder make them selves and all connected to the club vulnerable to fines if the club heirachy decide to play rookies to maxamise draft picks. Does prior knowledge of team selection, general soreness or obviously players positions on the field or off the field constitute a crime under AFL betting rules. How many restrictions on normal conversation between family and friends do you accept. The culprets here are the AFL and Gambling getting into an exotic bed together and screwing footy up the arse. The crime is not commited by the Clubs or players but by the money launders and those that sell them selves for the chicken feed they offer as payment for services rendered.
Aware
Guest
So you approve of criminal activity, Grant, I take it?
Throughout the history of sport there have been attempts by people, involved with gambling ,to change the outcome of an event. Many of these have made headlines but, I suspect, a lot more have never been discovered. Also, as with insider trading, the person with the best information makes the most money. It has always been that way and it will always be that way as it is literally impossible to police. Making it some sort of a crime for players to say what position they are going to play is totally ridiculous and another hardship being unnecessarily placed on them. Also it's another good reason why they deserve a bigger piece of the AFL pie.
Horatio
Guest
Shaw and maxwell should have been hung. Apparently Goldsack committed a similar offence last year and these clowns have still ofended. How stupid can players be and the captain too....Unbelievable