Last week, rugby league and sports fans across Australia were rocked by the news that police were investigating possible match fixing in the NRL. The sad truth is that our shock belies the reality beneath our noses.
We are entering a period where the corrosiveness of drugs in sport will be dwarfed by the combined effect of organised crime, infinite gambling options, and match fixing.
We have a combination of policy, circumstance and technology that has ripened our sports for match fixing. To be fair, it’s taken longer to reach Australia than in other countries, but over recent years we’ve witnessed cricket, tennis and soccer all implicated in match-fixing scandals.
These are big sports, with plenty of money to spend on the integrity of their sport. Despite this, we’ve seen corruption not just in games, but in some cases at the very top of the organisation – think of the allegations levelled at Sepp Blatter.
It’s naïve of us to think it doesn’t, or can't, happen here, because it already is.
“Pretending it’s not real is a recipe for disaster. Let’s get the best and brightest, from Australia and around the world to help us make Australian sport as corruption resistant as possible. Let’s have the summits, change the laws, establish the codes of conduct and face this challenge together.”
In 2013, a number of players from the Victorian Premier League football team, the Southern Stars, were accused of match fixing. Millions of dollars were alleged to have been placed on outcomes of games they played in. Ultimately, some of the players pleaded guilty and were fined between $1,000 and $2,000 by the courts. (There goes a legal penalty as a disincentive, but I digress).
The senior official of the code, in one of the more understated remarks on the matter, said: “
"This highlights the fact that lower league games, which aren't under the scrutiny of things like TV broadcasts, are potentially more susceptible to this kind of activity”.
No surprise there.
There are two key reasons why a nation as sports-obsessed as Australia should be concerned.
Firstly, even though most of us don’t gamble regularly on sports, it’s a reasonable expectation of gamblers on authorised events that they have access to information so as to make an informed decision as to how they place their bets. Clearly, match fixing completely removes a gambler’s ability to make a truly informed decision.
The second and more important point is this: the glorious uncertainty of sport gives us its romance, those moments that make us cheer and cry. We love the story of the come-from-behind win, the win against all the odds. We love these victories because they remind us what life can be like if we work hard, persevere and show courage.
We love Leicester City winning the Premier League.
We shouted at the television when Debbie Flintoff-King ran down the Russian in ’88 to win the Olympic 400 metre hurdles.
We watched in awe as Makybe Diva won three in a row; Black Caviar, 25 in a row.
We cheered like lunatics when Johnathan Thurston put that field goal over in extra time in last year’s rugby league grand final.
All epic moments in sporting history and part of our rich national tapestry.
But imagine our reaction if it was revealed that a jockey narrowly beaten by Black Caviar had thrown the race, or an umpire in a drawn grand final had a cloud over them, or there was a whole league of opposing footballers backing Leicester City to win?
Our rapture turns to deep cynicism straight away. It eats away at our generally sunny disposition, our belief in our collective future, our hope for each other. Instead, we end up cynical and jaded, unable to be lifted by those moments of great achievement because our first thought is, “What gear are they on?" or “ Who’s behind that?”
This is not a problem that can be legislated away. The global reach of day-to-day technologies means that offshore online gaming firms cannot be subject to Australian law.
Ultimately, sports codes need to take responsibility for the integrity of their offering.
This will cost money. It will require expert advice, uncomfortable conversations and unsavoury sting operations. But the alternative is worse. Lance Armstrong singlehandedly shredded the reputation of international cycling and the World Anti-Doping Agency. The sport refused to take responsibility for the rogue actions of those within its ranks. As a result, sponsors left, audience cynicism peaked, and the sport's reputation will take years to recover.
In Australia the opportunity exists to get ahead of the scourge of match fixing. Pretending it’s not real is a recipe for disaster. Let’s get the best and brightest, from Australia and around the world to help us make Australian sport as corruption resistant as possible.
Let’s have the summits, change the laws, establish the codes of conduct and face this challenge together.
Until we do, organised crime will continue to laugh at regulators, ruin young lives, and fleece innocent punters.
Michael Daley MP is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the NSW Parliament.
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