4 May 2006
A ten point plan to tackle sports betting cheats was presented by representatives of the sports, government and gambling industries. Sports betting irregularities are a major problem which need to be sorted out before the Gambling Act is instituted. It could have been entitled an ‘anti-cheating summit’. Members of the government, sport and betting industries all met up last week to discuss the issue of cheating in sports betting and what can be done about it. The Integrity in Sports Betting Conference, which took place in Twickenham, ended with all the major players involved in the issue signing a Code of Practice that would allow for unprecedented cooperation between the sports, government and betting industries to tackle the sports betting problem.
The UK Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, said that as part of the new Gambling Act which comes into affect in September 2007, all the gray areas surrounding sports betting, online casino betting and other questionable issues need to be sorted out. The Gambling Act is set to modernize and regulate the British gambling industry. If there is a phenomenon of cheating in sport betting, then this branch of the gambling market will not fit into the new and improved gambling industry that the Gambling Act will create. The Gambling Act introduced a comprehensive definition of sports betting cheating, which will also demand a maximum two year jail sentence.
The Code of Conduct after the summit will encourage the fighting against sports betting cheating and will allow for complete transparency of cooperation between all the different parties involved in and striving for a cheat-free sports betting industry.
