Inside Asian Gaming

Oct 2007 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 47 G amblingand sport areunderstand- able bedfellows. From backing the favourite to predicting a famous giant-killing, a wager adds a tangible layer of tension to even the most tedious kick- about, punch-up or run-around. However, suspicions that tense athletic events have been choreographed, pre-arranged or man- ufactured have grown exponentially of late; soccer, tennis and basketball are the most recent sports in the dock. Despite the growing, often astronomic, returns enjoyed by professional sports, it must be tempting to make a little on the side. A missed free throw here, a goalkeep- ing error or a fake injury there, the poten- tial for hoodwinking the public, punters and TV cameras is endless. The Ugly Game And so it has proved of late in profes- sional sports. At the end of July, 31-year- old Italian national team striker David Di Michele was banned for three months for illegal betting. Di Michele had been ac- cused of betting “directly or through third parties, on the results of official matches organised by the FIGC (Italian Football Federation)”. The maximum possible ban was three years, putting into context the relatively mild response to Di Michele’s wrongdoing. Game, Set and Match At around the same time, Nikolay Davydenko was at the centre of an inves- tigation into irregular betting. The match was between Davydenko and 87th-ranked ArgentineanMartinVassalloArguello at the Polish Open. The Betfair sports gambling book in Britain suspended payments on the match when it saw about US$7million in wagers, ten times the usual amount. Most of the money was on Arguello to win, even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2. Arguello won when Davydenko withdrew in the third set with a foot injury. Free Throw? It is in the National Basketball Associa- tion, however, that the most public case betting scandal has tipped off. The FBI is investigating referee Tim Donaghy who has been accused of betting on games, possibly ones he officiated and possibly the all-important end-of-season play-offs. It was the San Antonio Spurs who were said to have benefited from Donaghy’s decision in their NBA semi-final match-up with the Arizona Suns. Ironically The Suns are the franchise that looks most likely to end up in Las Vegas. The NBA betting scandal could have a large impact on basketball in general. In a Zogby poll conducted at the end of July, one-third of NBA fans said they had less in- terest in the league because of the scandal and two-thirds of the 7,362 respondents thought that Donaghy’s case was the tip of the iceberg. No sporting industry wants to publicly admit it has a gambling problem. To do so would reduce the amount of sponsorship the sector would be able to generate and increase the chance of state intervention in the game, something the NBA want to avoid at all costs. Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush, Head of the Subcommittee on Com- merce,Trade and Consumer Protection has already requested a meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern and is consider- ing calling a hearing on the matter “should the facts warrant public scrutiny.” Sports Games Rules Sports should look to casinos for integrity. In this ICE Feature, we look at how the world of professional sports could turn to the casino industry for ways to design, promote and safeguard regulation, reputation and integrity Davydenko has a lethal backhander MGM Mirage — A sign of integrity