The downside of our game being an international game

surely the ffa with the government need to create a filter in regards to all betting activity from overseas agencies

furthermore clubs need to have a due diligence for all players registered in this sport at any level

players need to be brought to justice

I am sure illegal betting has occurred at all levels of our game and it is futile to suggest betting does not exist in every sport and in every category including AFL - NRL and cricket

Australia needs to close the door

Not much the government can do to stop overseas bookies from using our events to bet on. The irony is that one of the reasons these guys opt for second tier semi-pro Aussie competitions is that Australia is considered to be legit, whereas no-one in their right mind would bet on lower tier fixtures in Asia.

The due diligence issue is the key. Stars were approached pre-season by a person they didn't know, offering them 5 players on zero wages... They MUST have heard alarm bells right then. Surely the first thing you'd ask is "what's the catch?"

All good fun.

Can't beat a bit of harmless Soap Opera in the game.

All over the news today :lol:

What odds can you get on a 7th tackle try ?

2/1 that every redneck and his dog up here won't stop crying about it for a week.

Syson has a bit to say:



http://neososmos.blogspot.com.au/

Warning: if you a fan of Michael Lynch don't read it...

Million-dollar pay days as players earn beer money
Date September 16, 2013
John Silvester
Crime reporter, The Age

No one could work out why the second-tier soccer side filled with internationals could play so badly.

Match fixing is imminent in Australia. It is a growing area of concern for us. This thing is coming down the highway and we have to be prepared.
And no one could work out why the professional footballers had agreed to play for beer money – arriving as they did on visitors' visas to take the field for the Victorian Premier League's newly promoted Southern Stars.

On paper they should have topped the table – instead they were on the bottom with only one win and a goal deficit of 46.

But to sports corruption experts there was no mystery. It was the classic combination of journeymen players, a second-string competition and a growing interest from Asian gambling rings.

The man calling the shots had not seen a Southern Stars game or even attended an Australian soccer match.

He was half a world away in Hungary – and considered the world's biggest match fixer.

Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean national, was arrested in Finland but released to become a prosecution witness in a series of European cases.

Perumal is alleged to have bribed as many as 11 Finnish players, fielded a fake side as Togo's national team in a rigged match against Bahrain and bribed players to lose in Thailand, Malaysia and Syria.

"He fixed five international friendlies before the World Cup," says International Centre For Sport Security director Chris Eaton.

Asian betting records show there had been a flood of money in the dying minutes of games for the Southern Stars to forfeit goals, with the side often losing four-nil after late scores.

The big payoff for Perumal was to be the second-last game of the season, Southern Stars against Richmond last Friday.

The Asian bookies had calculated the Richmond side as the likely winners by 78 per cent and so Perumal's syndicate was able to invest heavily at six-to-one odds for the draw. Which was the exact result, allegedly netting the syndicate around $2 million.

Which is why police from the Purana Taskforce and the sporting integrity intelligence unit moved on Sunday to arrest nine players and the coach from the Southern Stars.

The team had only one game left and the suspect players would soon be leaving Australia.

"They were in party mode," said one detective.

For the past three years police in Victoria have publicly declared that Australian professional sport is in danger of being infiltrated by match fixers. They have expressed concern that international journeymen players with pre-existing corrupt relationships with professional punters have been recruited to play in local sport.

In December 2011 leaders from 12 elite sports, including AFL, rugby league and union, soccer, netball, tennis and racing codes, were briefed by senior Victorian Police and Australian Crime Commission officials on the problem.

The response varied from alarm to apathy.

The following year at an international conference in Paris, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton was told of the activities of Perumal's syndicate.

In confidential meetings, senior sports officials, police, government agencies and anti-corruption experts concluded that match fixing had expanded to such an extent it was now a major organised crime threat.

Three sports were identified – soccer, cricket and tennis – all codes where players travel across the world to play in areas often considered notoriously corrupt.

A few weeks later Deputy Commissioner Ashton told Fairfax Media, "Match fixing is imminent in Australia. It is a growing area of concern for us. This thing is coming down the highway and we have to be prepared."

On Sunday he added, "This should be a wake-up call for all sports in Australia."

Police remain frustrated that the federal government is yet to amend laws to allow them to brief sporting bodies on material acquired by phone taps.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/milliondollar-pay-days-as-players-earn-beer-money-20130915-2tt6d.html#ixzz2f2YPOCxw

Edited by Damo Baresi: 16/9/2013 06:13:49 PM

IMO this is another instance of football not having manufactured its own money to help avoid this and other situations.We now need a national push to help clubs create an income to pay for the game to advance.

You can never generate enough money to overcome the will of asshats. What this affair proves is that sooner or later the tossers will get caught. I'm fairly sure there will be more arrests soon on this matter - I've got an idea of at least one more person who would appear to be involved.

Worldwide bans will be applied to the players involved, and hopefully it will be well publicized to make sure other players know what's in store if they try it on.