Addressing Corruption

Review to find ways to stop corruption in sports betting
Jason Dowling

JAILING match fixers, banning gambling credit to sports professionals and reviewing the types of ''in-play bets'' permitted are all under consideration to protect professional sport in Victoria against corruption.

Former Racing Victoria chief steward Des Gleeson is heading the investigation into sports betting and is likely to make several recommendations to protect professional sports when his report is handed to the Baillieu government in March.

New Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien told The Age he fully backed the Gleeson review.

Advertisement: Story continues below ''It would be naive to think that with so much money at stake Victorian sport would be immune to the pressures that we have seen take hold on the rest of the world, that is why we need to have legislation as effective as possible to ensure that we can keep the crooks out,'' he said.

Efforts to protect sport from betting corruption follow serious match-fixing allegations in cricket and a potentially explosive ongoing police investigation into betting surrounding a round 24 NRL match.

Several current and former AFL footballers have also spoken publicly about gambling addictions, including former Crows captain Simon Goodwin and Lion's Brendan Fevola.

The AFL fined Goodwin $20,000 in 2007 for placing four bets totalling $16,024.58 on AFL matches not involving his club. There is no suggestion Fevola has bet on AFL matches.

Mr Gleeson's review is likely to consider measures such as forcing punters placing cash bets of more than $1500 to disclose their identity, banning gambling credit for sports professionals, reviewing in-play bets and new laws that carry jail terms for match fixers.

Mr Gleeson said his review would test ''the protocols that are in place at the moment to determine if they are adequate''.

Mr O'Brien said regulators had to ensure they were keeping pace with the growth in sports betting. ''We need to ensure that our legislation is appropriate to preserve the integrity of the sporting events that Victorians love,'' he said.

He said Mr Gleeson ''is one of the most experienced people in Victoria when it comes to integrity in sports''.

Betfair chief executive Andrew Twaits has long called for an overhaul of sports betting laws - particularly stricter identification rules for who is making bets.