Sports Betting Patterns to Be Monitored in Beijing - 07-22-08

July 22 - At the close of an executive board meeting in Athens this week, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge told a news conference that the IOC would be taking all the necessary steps to monitor 'abnormal' sports gambling patterns.

"We have signed an agreement with the major, I would say bona fide betting companies," said Rogge. "We rely on them to advise us if there is an abnormal pattern in betting... it is in their interest to work with us, and our interest to work with them."

With the countdown to the Beijing Olympics and the parallel sports betting on athletics in full swing, a number of forces are working to try and combat what they expect to be a flood of gambling activity in a country where online gambling is deemed illegal.

Just this month, a court convicted 42 people for running an illegal online gaming operation and taking bets worth over $847 million over the course of a year, with the leader of the operation sentenced to 15 years in prison.

China's sporting industry has come under heavy criticism in the past for not better policing the branches that it covers. In 2006, the Asian Football Federation harshly scolded the country for the growing trend of match fixing involving club officials, players and referees.

At the time, the president of the Asian Football Federation, Mohammad bin Hammam said: "The illegal gambling and betting in China is a black mark on our football but we can't fight it simply through national associations. It requires government intervention to limit this through their own legal system, by putting the appropriate laws in place and enforcing them."

It remains to be seen what steps the Chinese government will take to combat this problem ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Submit This Article To Your Social Network
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
StumbleUpon	Redit	Technocrati