Rogue operators make battle to maintain integrity of sport more difficult

Rogue operators make battle to maintain integrity of sport more difficult

THIS has been a chilling week for Australian sport. Its exposure to manipulation by cheats and criminals has been shown to be raw and dangerous. Corruption is but a few strokes on the computer away.
And then there is just plain dumb. Collingwood loses Heath Shaw for eight weeks for a small bet but monumental indiscretion. Club captain Nick Maxwell is humiliated by association.

The battle to maintain the integrity of sport appears to become more difficult by the day no matter the amount of goodwill, policing and education.

Betdaq, a reputable and significant player in European sports wagering, has been forced to shut down its operations on Australian race meetings and sports following an exposure by The Australian. It has been a short but hardly sweet foray into wagering on this country's sports.

Another site, Bet365, which is based in Britain with offices in Australia, was yesterday offering odds on the AFL and NRL as well as casino and poker gambling online. Without appropriate licences, this is a breach of state regulations and online gambling a breach of federal law.

As well, The Weekend Australian today revealed that the Australian Federal Police has failed to act on 15 complaints since 2009 of criminal breaches of the Interactive Gambling Act because it has considered them a low priority.

This despite an Australian Crime Commission submission dated June 23 this year to the Joint Select Committee into Gambling reform that stated: "Online gambling is an identified money-laundering risk and increasingly is also acknowledged as a risk for revenue and taxation fraud."

The Australian, through a series of reports this week, was able to show that it was possible for Australians to wager bets, effectively, anonymously and of significant amount, through the internet with Betdaq, an Irish private company. Worse, Betdaq is not a bookmaker but a betting exchange, which means it allows punters to back horses to lose.

The uncomplicated and unnoticed manner Betdaq began to ramp up its Australian services proved how easy it was to circumvent Australia's national defence against corruption, a notion agreed to in principle but jubilantly nonetheless last month.

The facility to bet on horses or competitors to lose has been long considered anathema to good governance of sport integrity. Betfair, a growing heavyweight in Australian wagering, is also a betting exchange and had to work diligently and patiently to prove its bonafides and its strict anti-corruption and detection protocols before it was licensed to operate in this country.

Any bookmaker or exchange that bets on Australian race fields and major sporting events must first gain a licence to do so from the relevant sporting bodies.

As well as paying a fee to use the fields and fixtures the betting agencies are required to monitor all betting trends and inform the sport administrators of any suspicious betting patterns. And they must co-operate with any investigation, with all betting transactions to be made available to any inquiry.

The Weekend Australian could find no evidence that Betdaq sought to gain a licence with any sport in this country, therefore it was operating illegally. While there is no suggestion that Betdaq, which began its racing operations in Australia only days ago, had any intention to defraud anybody, it was a rogue operator because, without a licence with the sports it ran markets on, it could not be monitored. Bet365 appears no different.

So it would have been possible for footballers, cricketers et al to bet on Betdaq and now Bet365 with impunity.

So could sport officials. So too criminals, because proof of identity was symbolic only and not nearly as strict a matter as the evidence required by AUSTRAC, Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance regulator, which demands detailed, almost laborious proof for any transaction of $10,000 and above.

There is another grave complication with Betdaq and other off-shore betting and gambling agencies that woo Australian gamblers outside appropriate protocols. Betdaq has a facility on its site to enter into casino games and poker, illegal under federal government legislation.

The appearance of Betdaq should prove a pivotal moment in the Australian and international campaign to control and punish corrupt practices like match-fixing in sport around the world.

Last month the federal Sports Minister, Mark Arbib, triumphantly announced that all major Australian sports along with the federal government and all states and territories had agreed in principle to a national strategy to police corruption in sport. It was a fine moment for Arbib because consensus on anything in this political environment was unlikely and the sports were equally aware that they are each other's partners and mortal enemies.

The outcome of last month's meeting produced an encouraging product, one driven by Malcolm Speed, the former chief executive of the ICC and now chairman of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, a union of chief executives from the AFL, NRL, ARU, Cricket Australia, netball and Tennis Australia.

The need for a national legislative thrust was clear. The Australian Crime Commission had given damning evidence of the appeal of sport manipulation to criminals.

After last month's declaration, Arbib was upbeat. "This is an outstanding result for sport. I am pleased that all Australia's governments are presenting a united front against the scourge of match-fixing," he said.

"The only way we can deal with this threat is by working together to ensure we have a national policy underpinned by legislation, codes of conduct and industry standards.

"Today's was an important meeting. The Australian Crime Commission gave Sports Ministers a detailed briefing about the impact of organised crime internationally and the potential impact on the Australian economy and our sports.

"The Crime Commission advised that currently in Australia its concern was for individual athletes and sports, rather than the sports industry as a whole. But as betting volumes increase, sport is vulnerable to organised crime, to launder money and conceal illegal activity."

The meeting resolved to:

*Agree to pursue nationally consistent legislative arrangements.

*Seek legal arrangements and integrity agreements between sports and betting companies that will include requirements to share information, provide sports with a right to veto bet types and provide a financial return from sports betting to sports.

*Adoption of codes of conduct by sports.

*Establishment of a National Integrity of Sport Unit to oversee the national arrangements and provide support for smaller sports.

*Acknowledge that federal funding would be contingent on sports implementing appropriate anti-match-fixing and anti-corruption policies and practices.

Arbib also acknowledged the essential input of Australia's leading sports and betting companies to the combined assault on corruption.

However, Arbib was also aware that as significant as the local consensus was it would always be hard to police and that an international commitment, well funded and good intentioned, would provide the best chance for success.

The decision by Betdaq this week to increase its Australian content and the likelihood that other large international companies would seek a share of the local market only amplified his concerns.

Resources would be important. Locally, the Australian Federal Police is asked to regulate the Interactive Gambling Act but in a submission to the select committee the AFP said that 15 complaints had been lodged with the force since 2009. Yet the submission conceded "when compared to other activity, these referrals were categorised as low priority for investigation and consequently not investigated".

Arbib has vigorously sought an international solution. Along with British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, he raised the issue of match-fixing during the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Delhi last year and shortly afterwards met IOC president Jacques Rogge to discuss the IOC's wish for an international summit on match-fixing.

In January this year, Arbib met ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat in Melbourne to discuss the issue of match-fixing and in March attended the IOC summit in Lausanne that also drew representatives from China, Britain, France and Switzerland. They were not short of advice, with officials from Interpol, WADA, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Council of Europe, the International Tennis Federation, FIFA, the International Association of Athletic Federations, the World Lottery Association and the Remote Gambling Association in attendance.

That summit resolved to, among other things, consider the necessity and possibilities for governments, international organisations and sports betting operators to support efforts to protect the integrity of sports competitions.

Yesterday, Arbib stressed the difficulty and urgency of policing sport corruption internationally. "Australia has a balanced and regulated sports betting market but corruption is a fact of life. That is why the government is working to establish both a national code and legislation. Internationally it is more difficult because betting in India and Pakistan is not regulated. However, we believe that our domestic model will go a long way to informing the IOC model. It is imperative that sports and governments work together to regulate the system."

Arbib does not support banning potentially rogue betting agencies. "The best way to regulate is to bring these agencies into the system. It is why the government does not agree that exotic betting types should be banned. That will only drive punters to illegal bookmakers."

Arbib has addressed the protection of Australian sport like no other sports minister.

He wants first to address the domestic markets with legislation and codes of conduct for operators, sporting codes and athletes. It is a noble cause but without serious resources and policing of international operators it is too easily undermined.

At least on one level he can be heartened that the thickheads in the AFL are under scrutiny.