It is often said that Australians will bet on two flies climbing up a wall. If you were a gambler in days gone past that was a good way to sustain your penchant.
Nowadays, there is no need to invent situations on which to place a bet as most gambling agencies have myriad markets available on which you can risk your hard-earned.
Last Thursday, while Justice Minister Jason Clare was releasing the outcome of a year-long Australian Crime Commission investigation into illegal and nefarious practices in sport he was flanked by the kingpins of some of the highest profile codes in the country.
The CEOs of the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia, Football Federation Australia and National Rugby League, stood beside the minister with countenances that bore the realisation that all was not right in their respective bailiwicks.
Most of the media coverage in the days since has centred on the use and supply of performance enhancing drugs in sporting circles.
As a result, perhaps the most sinister aspects of the ACC report have been placed on the backburner.
While the supply and use of performance enhancing substances is undoubtedly a major concern for Australian sport the potential involvement of underworld figures in the area of gambling on sporting outcomes is a bigger issue.
Earlier this month Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, announced that 380 soccer matches were currently under suspicion for having been manipulated for gambling purposes by Asian-based organised crime syndicates.
The matches involved spanned 15 countries with over 400 players, match officials, club officials and criminals under investigation.
By the time Europol went public with its concerns over 50 individuals had been arrested and charged with assorted activities relating to betting stings in sport.
This investigation comes hot on the heels of recent widespread gambling scandals in Italian and Turkish soccer leagues.
Up until the release of the ACC report most Australians would have believed that such events did not occur in leagues in this country.
Now, we have to think again.
And in doing so, perhaps governments and sporting bodies need to address the current state of sports gambling in Australia.
One of the best places to start would be for sporting organisations to can the idea of allowing betting agencies to sponsor them.
Even prior to the release of the ACC report there was a glaring hypocrisy surrounding the acceptance of gambling profits in the underwriting of sports organisations.
Gambling by participants on their own sport is a long held no-no.
In fact, it is one of the key platforms that underpins the whole notion of free and fair sport.
The recent Damien Oliver saga had many people aghast at the thought of a jockey placing bets on another horse in a race in which he was participating.
In the AFL, players caught gambling on the code have been held up as sporting pariahs.
In 2011, Collingwood’s Heath Shaw was fined $20,000 and suspended for eight weeks for contributing $10 towards a $20 bet on his captain, Nick Maxwell kicking the first goal in the round nine clash against Adelaide.
Maxwell, having actually laid no money on the ‘scheme’, was fined $10,000 after it was discovered that members of his family had placed three separate bets on the same outcome.
A total of $30,000 in fines and eight weeks on the sidelines all for a $20 wager.
It may sound harsh, but for the sake of upholding its integrity the AFL did the right thing – in that regard at least.
Where it should be called into question however is its ongoing reliance on gambling related sponsorship.
Given its strict adherence to a no exceptions policy when it comes to its participants – that also includes administrators, match officials, coaches and support personnel – surely the correct message to send to all those involved in the sport is to sever ties with betting agencies altogether.
The same should apply to any code that has sponsorship associations with betting agencies.
Many may query the presence of alcohol related sponsorship but there remains a distinct difference – unless the products concerned are consumed to excess, or in a timeframe that does not fit within the club’s ethos – there is no problem or penalty handed to those who imbibe.
Tobacco sponsorship was pulled by the government as a result of the harm smoking can do to health, regardless the experts will tell you, of how much is consumed.
When the case for banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship was first discussed it brought about countless Henny Penny impersonations with myriad administrators telling anyone who would listen that the sky was about to fall in.
Some argued until they were blue in the face about the damage culling tobacco sponsorship would do to sport in this country.
Yet, despite the prophecies of a sporting Armageddon, it didn’t eventuate and nowadays the public would never consider a return to the ‘bad old days’.
Sporting associations will try and plead the same case this time around if there is a fear of gambling related sponsorship being axed by government legislation.
Those that are the guardians of sport should not wait for a message on high from Canberra, but rather make the call themselves to break the hypocritical nexus that currently exists.
The other necessary act is to ban micro-betting – the practice of being able to bet on events within an event.
We have seen how easy this type of wagering can impact on proceedings on the field of play – the 2010 sting that resulted in the banning of three Pakistani Test cricketers for their involvement in a scheme to bowl deliberate no-balls at Lord’s being a classic example.
The ability to bet on the likes of who will kick the first goal or who will open the bowling are the sort of things that are easily open to manipulation should players be enticed to hop into bed with illegal betting syndicates.
While issues such as these may seem fairly inconsequential they have the ability to lead to larger, more result warping practices.
Once you have entered into a ‘contract’ with organised crime syndicates and you are drawn into their shady world the ability to be manipulated even further is an ever present threat not easily escaped.
Changes need to be made to the legislation regarding sports gambling in Australia and they need to be applied as quickly as possible.
It is pointless having government ministers and sporting CEOs professing their concerns as to the affect gambling can have on sport in this country if they are not willing to take the necessary steps to enforce change.
David M
Guest
It's funny, I used to like a punt but all the advertising put me off - I've never had a bet on football or cricket (and I'm passionate about both). I am very concerned for the young sports enthusiasts who think that gambling is part of the fun.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
If sporting agencies can advertise betting, why cant clubs and pubs advertise Pokie's ?
Pot Stirrer
Guest
I dont think the Advertising of odds during the footy shows is good either. Personally i do find the odds interesting but i think it encourages under age fans to want to have a bet which is not a good thing imo.
Hughster
Guest
And to those gambling organisations that say increased regulation will drive gambling underground and offshore, this is a smoke and mirrors argument. I don't think any reasonable person would suggest that this move would eliminate the problem. The point is to make the exercise a little less convenient for potential punters. Given the current circumstances surely any improvement is better than what exists now. Admittedly history is against us. Sports such as boxing (research the history of the Marquis of Queensbury rules) and professional cycling introduced standard rules of competition in order to create a structured framework for informed and fair wagering. Most peculiar mama.
Mick
Guest
I am trying to work out why team(s) in Italy set up to throw game(s) get investigated for match fixing yet teams in oz set up to "lose" get investigated for "tanking"
Hughster
Guest
I just looked at a certain bookmakers website which clearly (proudly?) notes on the home page: "IS AN OFFICIAL BETTING PARTNER OF:" Followed by the logos of AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, Australian Rugby This is deeper than a sponsorship relationship. It is a commercial relationship. A symbiotic relationship perhaps? As Glenn says, perceptions are everything nowadays. I shudder to think how the Australian sporting environment is perceived worldwide. Once Australia was represented as the home of Chesty Bond and the classic chiseled athletic physique. Closer to Alan Bond nowadays. Sad days indeed.
si-fi
Guest
I agree with gist of this article totally. Something needs to be done. Further to advertise the gambling and then say to bet responsibly erks me no end
Bunny Boy Marty
Guest
Agree no embedded ads during broadcast. Need an integrity commission funded by levy on gambling agencies to work with major codes to monitor all oz sport. Give this commission unfettered access to the licensed gaming agency records. Not perfect but gives us best chance of seeing what is going on underground. Sponsorship? Ideally no, but I'm not willing to die on the mountain for that. Need to work with that industry, and the genie is out of that bottle. What i am strong on is the need for no "consorting" between professional / semi professional athletes, coaches and officials, and known professional gamblers, bookies and their associates (just like they have in the US) example, if you are a pro footballer in US you can't even bet on a horse with a bookie. Might seem harsh for us Aussies, but read up on the 1924 baseball world series (shoeless Joe jackson) and you will know why the yanks are so strong on this, even down to college and high school games (US basketball has history of issues with "spread" betting ) -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Malo
Guest
Agree Swampy. Also the govt is so hypocritical and love the revenue it grabs so will not discourage the practice. It can be easily regulated. Like the pokies dilemma there is a very easy solution but pollies make it seem complex so they let the revenue continue and put it thru countless meaningless committees to do meaningless revues and reports. Just band commentators promoting it and micro betting, but I bet James Packer and greedy Waterhouse has too many pollie connections for this to happen. We are no less corrupt than many eastern or asian bookie countries, just that it goes largely in the hands of govt and large betting owned families and our govts make it legal.
Swampy
Guest
Glenn, agree wholeheartedly. I also think europol suspected 680 matches. Betting is a nefarious pursuit at the fringes of societal control. The result is the only thing we should allow betting on, and, like horse racing, no more bets after the horses are in the gates. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Arthur fonzarelli.
Guest
Why penalise the millions of people who enjoy a bet ? Why not just punish severely those who do the wrong thing ? Life bans and jail time . If people want to fix spot bet results they will still be able to do that with illegal or off shore book makers anyway , no use banning it in Australia where it is highly regulated and monitored . Agree that the mid match gambling promotion is unsavoury and not a good look and should be removed . I would support reductions on the advertising and promotion of gambling but not the activity itself .
Redb
Roar Guru
Ha gotta agree dealing with Telstra is extremely bad for your health and can only lead to misery and torment. :)
dasilva
Guest
Yeah as a person who is fan of association football, I'm realy concern about match fixing spreading to the A-league. Back in 2008, Moore, Muscat and Brebner were suspended for betting on A-league match Brebner a Melbourne Victory player bet on an Asian Champions League match involving Melbourne Victory vs Chonburi FC (a Thai club) that Melbourne were favourites to win. He had two bets on the match. That the scoreline would be 3-1 margin and that Chonburi would manage to either draw or win the match. The final result was 3-1 defeat for Melbourne Victory and he pocketed $550 from the match winning both bets. Although there was no evidence that the match was fixed and perhaps, I do wonder sometimes especially after the recent ACC report He was banned for four matches for that and I thought that was way lenient especially when he betted against his own team and the results came his way. Perhaps they should be investigation whether that match was fixed.
turbodewd
Guest
Gambling leads to misery for some. But buying from Ford, Telstra or Samsung doesnt. In 2010 Ryan Tandy in the NRL tried to fix part of a game to rake in some dough and was caught. Bizzarely since then the NRL has INCREASED its reliance on gambling sponsorhip - madness. Gambling and sport is NEVER a good combination. We see dodgyness in horseracing all the time due to gambling.
Marcus
Guest
I bet the advertising/sponsorship ban will never happen and I am not sure it should. But I would like to see micro-betting go. Apparently it doesnt even make that much dough for the agencies, but they need to offer it because if they dont, they run the risk of losing those account holders who like a little punt on the first goal but punt on everything else as well. A ban would remove this issue. And micro-betting is invariably a "luck" or "chance bet". Betting on the result of an overall competition notionally pits your wits against the bookie. So a more knowledgeable punter should have some results go his way, notwithstanding the sometimes very unfriendly odds (although this is an argument for more betting agencies - more agencies create a narrower spread for the bookies). Whilst it is not quite on point, I am always bemused by anyone who thinks that doping or match fixing or any other nefarious activity doesn't or couldn't happen in Australia. Australians commit crimes, cheat on their taxes and do plenty worse. So we ain't different from anywhere else. No reason to think that we have any less or more sporting cheats than most other countries. And we have a proud history of infamous sporting results - The Austral wheelrace (and it was big then - raced on the MCG) in 1901 is one that springs to mind.
Bunny Colvin
Guest
Amazing the influence of one family on Australia. James Packer organised to go halfies with Betfair of the UK and got the Tasmanian government onside to support him. Now the genie is well and truely out of the bottle. If it was somebody else, the whole project would have been canned. He must be one hell of a persvasive individual, but as we see in life one day the worm will surely turn. Enough people will be burnt by this pandemic of gambling that I am confident the day will come that it will all be halted. Maybe when the Greens get elected. Noticed old Jimmy at it again on Channel 7 painting himself as a generous giver to the Australian people, so that he can get the 2nd Sydney casino license without having to go tender for it. As we are an oligarchy, Mr Packer your new gambling house awaits I suppose. It is straight out of "The Wire" Australia. It is like David Simon wrote it about our society.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Will, the issue that resulted in a $20,000 fine & eight-match suspension to Heath Shaw and a $10,000 fine to Nick Maxwell in the AFL was as a result of a $20 bet placed through a mainstream betting agency. It was a case of micro- betting undertaken through a legitimate and legal betting operation.
Will Sinclair
Guest
"I would be all for the ban on live sports betting and selected exotics which seem easier to manipulate than others." I believe that a ban on most exotics is already in place. Or, at least, if a betting agency wants to introduce a new market it needs to be cleared by the sporting organisation involved and the ombudsman. That stops the sorts of exotic markets that are extremely easy for one person to manipulate (ie: number of no balls in an over, who will bowl the first over, whether player X will wear sunglasses onto the field etc). If the Ryan Tandy affair taught us anything, it's actually very hard to fix a game in Australia. Well, at least without making it really, really obvious!
Lroy
Guest
I dont think its right, that you can be watching a game of rugby league and all of a sudden Peter Sterling quips "and now you can get $1.85 on the broncos to win seem like good odds to me" there is no place whatsoever for commentators to be pumping these betting agencies.
Will Sinclair
Guest
Hi Glenn, I can understand why you're confused - because I am making (or trying to anyway!) two points: 1) I think the advertising of gambling as an inherent part of sports broadcasts should be stopped immediately. There is a very big difference between passively advertising a brand (Centrebet, Sportsbet etc) through sponsorship as part of a broad marketing strategy, and actively encouraging people to gamble during an event. Especially when you use established commentators to "normalise" this behaviour. 2) I don't see a link between the sports sponsorship of mainstream betting agencies and illegal fixing of matches by players. (Although - you make a very good point above about the importance of perception, and it's something I hadn't considered.)