Sports Betting Vigilance

London 2012: Betfair and IOC to monitor Games betting
By Bill Wilson
Business reporter, BBC News

Online betting exchange Betfair has agreed a deal to share information with the International Olympic Committee during the London 2012 Games.

They will exchange data about irregular or suspicious betting patterns.

It means the IOC will be able to request the identities of account holders who bet suspiciously, as well as other betting transaction details.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson warned this month about the threat illegal gambling rings could pose to the games.

Mr Robertson said the threat of betting corruption was worse than doping problems.

"You cannot underestimate the threat this poses, because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing turns to pieces," he told the Sunday Times.

The IOC is also working with the Gambling Commission and the police to tackle illegal betting syndicates during the Games.

'Interests aligned'

Betfair, which signed a similar memorandum of understanding with the IOC in Beijing four years ago, said London 2012 would be its biggest Games to date, with it offering markets on every single gold medal event.

The world's biggest betting exchange will use technology and its team of integrity experts to ensure that any suspicious betting activity is investigated and information passed to the IOC.

Specialised software developed by the firm also helps identify potentially suspicious transactions.

"The interests of sports governing bodies, like the IOC, and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner," said Martin Cruddace, Betfair's chief legal and regulatory affairs officer.

Race payments

Meanwhile, the firm has agreed to pay some customers after previously voiding all bets on the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown in December.

Odds of 28-1 were quoted to punters on Voler La Vedette during the Christmas Hurdle, despite it being a hot favourite, with pre-race odds of 13-8.

More than £1.6m was placed at the in-race odds. The horse won the race easily, triggering heavy payouts for Betfair.

The company cancelled all in-race bets, but has since "looked in detail at all the circumstances surrounding the technology failure and the anomaly it created".

It has now decided that certain categories of voided bets will be compensated.

The firm said: "The categories of bets that will be compensated are: in-play winning positions in both the 'win' and the 'to be placed' markets which were achieved before the technology failure; and in-play winning positions in the 'to be placed' market achieved at any time through to the completion of the race.

"Bets matched in the 'win' market after the technology failure will remain void."



Former Essex cricketer Mervyn Westfield pleads guilty to corruption
Westfield admits corruption charge at the Old Bailey
Press Association guardian.co.uk

The former Essex cricketer Mervyn Westfield has admitted a corruption charge at the Old Bailey linked to a NatWest Pro40 match.

Westfield, 23, pleaded guilty to accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of a certain number of runs. The charge relates to a one-day 40-over match between Durham and Essex on 5 September 2009. A separate charge of assisting another person to cheat at gambling was ordered to lie on file.

Westfield agreed to bowl the first over in a one-day, 40-over match between Durham and Essex in September 2009 to allow the scoring of a certain number of runs. Adjourning sentencing until 10 February, Judge Anthony Morris told Westfield: "I hold out no promises to you as to the eventual outcome of this case. It's open to the court in this case to pass an immediate custodial sentence."

The court heard that Westfield agreed to bowl the first over so that 12 runs could be scored, but only 10 were achieved. Judge Morris said that the name of the other party involved in the deal would be known to cricket fans, but it was not revealed in court.

Angus Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, welcomed Westfield's decision to enter a guilty plea. He said: "I'm not sure that court cases necessarily are very helpful but the fact that he has admitted to the crime can only act as a signal to others that sport needs to be treated with respect and played properly, at any level.

"Our view on it is that the world has moved on quite a long way since he committed those offences. We've invested a huge amount in educating players as to their responsibilities, but I think that none of us can be complacent. I think that we are all very mindful of the need to make sure that sport is played properly.

Asked if county players, who generally earn less than international cricketers, were especially susceptible to approaches, Porter said: "I'm not convinced that we know who the high-risk groups are. There is no doubt that where there are threats of corruption they will be linked to gambling and that gambling will predominantly be on televised games. International cricket certainly is a risk and I think domestic cricket is also a risk because some games are televised on the Indian sub-continent so I suppose those specific matches are the ones we need to worry about.

"All cricketers we treat the same, whether they're an academy player, a county player or an international player we get across the messages of what they can and can't do, and the importance of playing the game the right way."

Porter revealed the PCA had assisted Westfield early on. "We did offer him advice in the early days and one thing that was important given that that case involved a number of people in the Essex dressing room was to make sure he had independent legal advice and we helped him to source that," he said.

The England and Wales Cricket Board declined to comment on Westfield's case at this stage. The cricketer currently remains on bail.