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Asia, the driver of illegal betting worldwide

  February 2 , 2016
   

Racing is the only legalised form of betting in India. However, the betting turnover on horse racing in India is a pittance when compared with the betting on cricket. The betting is not restricted to cricket that is played in India. The illegal operators conduct betting for matches held anywhere in the world as long as there is live telecast. Of course the volume of betting if the match involves India is phenomenal but there is no bar on betting even if there is a county cricket match in England if there is no international match to bet on. The proliferation of TV Channels providing live feeds of cricket matches from all over the world has resulted in boom in betting. The betting has greater ramifications to the sport in general and this was the topic of a serious discussion at a business session during the recently held 36th Asian Racing Conference held at Mumbai.

While betting by itself in a controlled environment is harmless, it can assume dangerous proportions when it is allowed to be run by unscrupulous elements. The tide of illegal betting has assumed epidemic proportions, with ``fixing`` become a matter of grave concern. We have seen the ugly spectre of match fixing resulting in life ban imposed on several Indian cricket players as also players from different countries. The epidemic is spreading surely to other sports as well so much so that illegal betting is now increasingly controlled by the mafia. The turnover on sports in illegal betting is pegged at 500 Billion dollars while the legal channels attract much lower figure.

The quality of racing has deteriorated at all premier racing centres, more so in centres like Bangalore and Mumbai which were known for their excellence. The proliferation of illegal bookmakers has resulted in them attempting to control racing to suit their greed. These players are big investors in the sport through benami transactions. It is not an exaggeration if one were to say that a huge chunk of horses based in Bangalore are owned by betting syndicates. The result of such proliferation is that racing is no longer reliable, based on any method like speed rating, line handicapping or on any of the traditional tools used by punters developed over years of experience. The results are controlled or rather manipulated by these operators through their agents, with the professionals being the tools in their operations. Racing has become topsy-turvy with punters losing faith in racing itself so much so that on the Bangalore Derby day, the collections on the tote showed a drop of Rs 1 crore compared to the previous year. There are alarming signs that if the regulators don`t deal with the problem with an iron end, racing is sure to slip inexorably. Punters are going to desert the sport when they see there is no hope. The authorities are to be blamed for this situation. The power brokers are also exploiting the situation as money power has been used generously to subdue action by the authorities. One danger of these operators is that they are also kingpins of betting operation of other sports as well. We have already seen how matches are rigged and people have little trust in the genuineness of any result even if there is no fixing involved. These are cynical times and there is urgent need for the clubs to involve investigating agencies in their operations to ensure that the integrity of the sport does not suffer.

Greg Purcell, Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, served as chairman for the session on the growing menace of illegal betting at the recently concluded Asian Racing Conference. “There is a saying that ‘where there is money there is corruption,` and this is true in all walks of life and across all commercial environments,” said Mr. Purcell. “While legitimate legal wagering operators work within the laws and confirm with prohibitions and restrictions set out by regulators, not to mention paying fees to the sports on which they wager, illegal operators don`t.”

Comparatively, Mr. Purcell continued, “the illegal, unlicensed and unregulated gambling operators exploit markets where there is an absence of a legal wagering framework, work outside jurisdictional laws to meet unsatisfied demand, don`t pay fees to the sports on which they take bets and fall outside most of our current integrity systems.”

Martin Purbrick, the Hong Kong Jockey Club`s Director of Security and Integrity briefed delegates on the growth of illegal betting in Asia, and the expanding reach of those operators beyond the region, serving as a driver for a host of criminal enterprises.

“In just the past month, we heard of massive match-fixing syndicates in tennis, an international cricketer from South Africa charged in similar scandals, and that half the Canadian Soccer League`s matches this season have signs of suspicious betting activity,” said Mr. Purbrick.

Estimating global betting revenue is US$716 billion of which $500 billion is estimated to be illegal, Mr. Purbrick noted that Asia is clearly the driver for all channels. “The global illegal betting market is likely to be as big as US$500 billion in transactions, with Asia as the driver. The world`s largest legal and illegal betting outlets worldwide are headquartered in Asia, and they are likely responsible for 70 to 80 percent of that illegal market.”

Mr Purbrick said that “The growth of illegal betting in Asia has led to global expansion of the operators, the consequent spread of criminal involvement in racing and other sports betting markets, as well as being a driver for other criminal problems such as sports corruption and money laundering.”

Rupert Bolingbroke, Head of Trading for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, provided insight to the customer targets of illegal gambling sites and identified key areas required to combat their influence.

“There are at least 2,500 illegal bookmaking websites in Asia, of which 20 to 30 are major players. While they have a huge existing client base, there is an increasing focus on youth gamblers,” said Mr. Bolingbroke.

“Even worse, many of these illegal operators are also specifically targeting youth, teenage gamblers, through virtual gaming and a series of token-based games,” said Mr. Bolingbroke. Focusing specifically on the impact in Hong Kong, he added that a single 12-month period yielded more than seven million unique page views from Hong Kong to betting websites which are not legally accessible by those residing there. “These operators get larger and larger every year.”

Neil Paterson, Assistant Commissioner, Intelligence and Covert Support Command, Victoria Police discussed law enforcement`s approach to illegal gambling, and its ties to organized crime. “Illegal gambling is the perfect operating environment for organized crime and illegal gambling goes hand in hand with fixing,” said Mr. Paterson. “Whilst traditionally organized crime has targeted illicit markets for revenues, they are more and more corrupting licit markets. Where there is big money to be made, you will find organized crime. The size of the illegal markets is so large, the exact numbers are almost irrelevant,” added Mr. Paterson.

 
 
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