Sports look for national legislation on gambling

Sports look for national legislation on gambling

By DENNIS PASSA, AP
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Major sporting groups in Australia, including Cricket Australia and the National Rugby League, have asked the federal government to adopt legislation to prevent incidences of betting-related corruption.

It comes the same week as three Pakistan cricketers were each banned for a minimum of five years for spot-fixing in a series against England, and following the arrest of an Australian rugby league player for providing false evidence to police over suspicious betting activity.

Sports betting is big business in gambling-mad Australia, where an IBISWorld survey last year showed that the market share of sports gambling over five years had nearly doubled from $1.6 billion per annum to $2.9 billion.