POSTED: Thursday September 16th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sport & Gambling Unite Against Corruption: Sport, Gambling & Sponsorship 2010

Although bookmakers and sport are united in tackling corruption, issues such as responsibility for convicting betting cheats and providing a fair return to sport remain contentious....

Although bookmakers and sport are united in tackling corruption, issues such as responsibility for convicting betting cheats and providing a fair return to sport remain contentious, heard delegates at Sport, Gambling & Sponsorship 2010, a World Sports Law Report annual conference on 14 September.

Nick Tofiluk, Director of Regulation at the Gambling Commission, told delegates that although 108 cases of suspicious betting were reported to the Commission between 1 September 2007 and 31 March 2010, 60 have been closed due to either adequate action being taken by a sports governing body or lack of evidence to secure a conviction. Just one conviction has been secured to date in relation to greyhound racing, and eight cases remain active, including two involving snooker. Tofiluk said that criminal investigations against sport are often discontinued because sports governing bodies can deal with the issue. “Criminal investigations are costly, lengthy and it is often difficult to predict the outcome”, he said. “In many cases, the standard of evidence does not reach the standard required to secure a criminal conviction”.

Nic Coward, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority, underlined the importance of the levy in providing a financial return to horseracing from betting, and said that the concept should be extended to all sport. He expressed dismay that many of the major players in the industry had decided to locate their online operations offshore, depriving the horseracing industry of potential levy revenues. “We need to break out of this ludicrous and destructive cycle that we are in”, said Coward, referring to the situation whereby bookmakers located in Great Britain must contribute to the horseracing levy, while those receiving a licence through the ‘whitelist’ of approved foreign jurisdictions escape the levy. “Our focus is on securing a fair return for horseracing, but we would also like to see a fair return to all sports”. Under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 (as amended), the Horserace Levy Betting Board collects monetary contributions from bookmakers and the Tote via a levy, which it then distributes for the improvement of horseracing.
Coward pressed the point that a holistic approach is needed to any review of the current levy system encompassing all sports. He advocated “the creation of a modern market in which betting operators wanting to offer a bet must enter into enforceable contracts for the right to do so”. France’s Code du Sport, which allows sporting event organisers control over the ‘right to offer bets’, was held up as an example of how this can work. It even has European Commission approval, as confirmed by another speaker, Gianluca Monte, a Policy Advisor to the European Commission’s Sports Unit. 

Sport, Gambling & Sponsorship is an annual event organised by World Sports Law Report and World Online Gambling Law Report and hosted by Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.

World Sports Law Report and World Online Gambling Law Report offer free monthly legal updates via email. Signing up takes seconds and can be done at http://www.e-comlaw.com/updates.asp.

World Sports Law Report will hold it’s annual Player Issues: Regulations & Contracts conference on 14 October 2010. Full details are available at http://www.playerscontracts.com/.

For more information about any of our events and publications please contact Karl Behrouz at karl.behrouz@e-comlaw.com or on +44 (0)20 70121384.

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Keywords · sport · gambling · betting · sponsorship · conference · regulation · nick · tofiluk · director · nic · coward · british · horse · racing · sport · sporting · players · gaming · lotteries · policy · world · law · report · criminal · investigations

Name: Stephanie Rietkerk
Organization: World Sports Law Report
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