Skip to main content

Is betting really to blame for all the corruption in sport?

In the light of the Renault scandal in Formula 1, Bloodgate in rugby union, and football scandals such as the one Juventus was relegated for in Serie A, is it too easy for sporting authorities to blame gambling for all its integrity problems?

Fair enough, there are obviously some issues with it, but ever since there has been a prize for winning a competition, people have found devious ways to win, or stop others from winning. Look at scandals in kids' beauty pageants, flower growing contests, elections, tanking for better draft picks etc - where someone has something to gain, cheating will never be far away. And that's without even discussing drugs in sport.

Biggest threat to Sports Integrity comes from within


While no one can argue that manipulation of sports by betting syndicates does not exist, the reality is that the most concerted efforts at manipulation are made by criminal elements via illegal bookmakers, and not as it is suggested, by online gamblers who in the majority bet for relatively small stakes through regulated bookmakers.

Sport has becoming an increasingly lucrative business as demonstrated by the salaries of the top sports people. In football for instance, the combined salaries of the top three highest paid players amounts to an incredible €80 million.

With such lucrative compensation packages on offer to sports people, and equally lucrative opportunities existing for the teams, it is little wonder that those at the pinnacle of sports are willing to do anything necessary to win a slice of the financial pie, from theatrical diving in football to life threatening choreographed crashes in Formula 1.

The most recent scandals in sport boil down to the issue of money, but it is not gambling money that causes these actions. The actions of certain teams and players that have recently caught the international headlines are planned and executed from within in order to manipulate referees and the situation at hand in their favour, thereby securing their interests in an increasingly lucrative industry.



Sports need to get their own houses in order first before they can apportion all of the blame on the gambling industry. And it is very rare that legalised, regulated gambling is the source of the problem - after all, bookies are there to win money and minimise risk. The first sign of something being fishy and alarm bells ring worldwide...

Comments

  1. Hello

    Could you please put in google translate on your blog that we can read in other languages/swedish?

    GL

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi GL,
    I've added one now, thanks for the request.

    Scott

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments, but if you're a spammer, you've just wasted your time - it won't get posted.

Popular posts from this blog

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...