International sports authorities are starting to get a bit worried about the number of sports betting websites that seem to be popping up all over the Internet. According to Agence France Presse, there are an estimated 15,000 sites to be found online, 13,000 of them illegal and unlicensed, moving somewhere in the field of 15 billion Euros a year. Whether or not this number is exaggerated remains to be seen, but the AFP’s report has triggered a reaction from many sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
AFP’s report went on to state that the ‘explosion of Internet sports betting’ seems to be originating and controlled from sites that are based in Asia. The credibility of sports betting is being compromised by these illegal sites and it has been alleged that international sports corruption has increased dramatically over the last five years because of these sites. Declan Hill, a journalist and expert on the problem of illegal sports betting sites, has stated, “Ten years ago, national lotteries controlled 100 percent of the sports betting market. Today, the French National Lottery, for example, controls only 25 percent of the French market, but the number of clients has multiplied four times.”
In 2006, a study conducted by Information Systems Security Consulting, an independent firm, showed that the corruption in internet sports betting was running rampant, a condition that has continued since the report was released. The company claims that most of the online gaming found today is being controlled by ‘criminal groups’ that approached, threatened, influenced, and took over legally run operations. Money laundering through sports betting websites has also been uncovered while third division football matches are getting bets way beyond what they should be with the company claiming that an estimated “85 percent of these websites have been created for the sole purpose of "washing away dirty money”. It is important to note here that Information Systems Security Consulting did not identify their source of information.
Of course, there are various sporting administrations that are working on stopping illegal gambling and the harm it is doing, yet they are still trying to get a piece of the pie as well. By picking up lucrative television airing rights to events, they are able to go back and point fingers at sports betting sites and claim they are in violation of these exclusive rights by taking bets. How far does the corruption go? Online sports betting fans may never know.
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