Britain “not in a position” to prevent Olympics match fixing
Industry experts have expressed their concerns that match fixing and sports fraud will pose a serious threat to the London Olympics, which are due to start in a few days, since offshore operators cannot be obliged to share information with sporting bodies, the UK Gambling Commission (GC) or the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).
Mike Morgan, a Senior Associate at Squire Sanders, explains “the UK Government is not in a position to compel operators that fall outside of its jurisdiction to share information”, and the Government “can scarcely be blamed for the activities of offshore operators and bookmakers that fall outside of its jurisdiction”. He points out “more has been done to combat the specter of sporting fraud in preparation of these Olympic Games than any other”.
John Cloke, an Associate at DLA Piper in London, does foresee issues since “those who would seek to manipulate events are more likely to place their bets with bookmakers in a less well-regulated market.” Andrew Danson, of K&L Gates, also stresses that “no [UK] legislation could obtain information from black market operators”.
The industry, meanwhile, has taken its own measures. Because of the “limited jurisdictional reach of the UK parliament”, as Cloke called it, a number of betting companies issued a statement of intent on 26 June, pledging to report all unusual betting patterns to the GC, to not knowingly take bets from anyone accredited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to offer a 24-hour reporting service, and suspend any bets if ordered to do so by the GC.
Morgan called the statement “a commendable initiative” and thinks it “may well act as a deterrent from any individuals who seek to defraud the betting markets by manipulating a sporting event”. However, he stresses “that not all acts of sporting fraud are intended to defraud the betting markets. The aim may simply be to ensure a higher standing for a team or an individual. In such event, betting patterns are unlikely to reveal any suspicious activity.” Danson agrees: “Unfortunately, there is no doping test for corruption.”
Last January, it was announced that the IOC, the GC, the Metropolitan Police, the UK Border Agency and a number of gambling operators will meet on a daily basis during the Games, to detect suspicious betting patterns, and to evaluate whether any athletes are intentionally underperforming for personal gain.
Author: Michiel Willems
Dutchman Michiel Willems LLM MA is based in central London as an international journalist in broadcast and print, specialised in UK current affairs, e-commerce, finance, business and legal news.
Michiel studied law and journalism in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and after gaining experience in Malaysia and India he returned to London in 2008 to embark on a career in writing and reporting.
With global study and work experience and an open mind, he currently works in central London as an associate editor, writer, voice over professional and radio reporter. Michiel has developed a great interest in the facts behind the headlines, the stories behind the statistics and the people behind the news.
His specialties are writing news stories, features, editorial comments, catchy standfirsts, drop quotes, captions, headers and headlines, commissioning, editing, conducting interviews, managing publications’ flatplans, radio reporting and gathering large amounts of information within a relatively small amount of time.
Michiel usually approaches a story from an original, relevant angle and likes to come up with fresh ideas for news stories and in-depth features. He speaks to a wide number of sources across the political, financial, business, legal and e-commerce sectors on a daily basis. Michiel has a broad network of contacts, in the UK as well as overseas, mainly consisting of bankers, lawyers, lobbyists, consultants, entrepreneurs, payment processors, regulators, trade associations, policymakers and politicians.
