The ACC nukes Australian sport

[Laz]

A journo mate, hopefully he's just having a lend of me. Adrian Anderson knew about the essendon drug situation about a year ago as well, maybe thats why he got out before the sh*t well and truely hit the fan.

[Rob]

It wouldn't surprise me if your rumour is true Laz. There were well known links between certain footballers here in Perth and prominent underworld figures over 10 years ago. There was mention of a $40 million betting plunge on a particular game - that sort of sh*t doesn't just come from nowhere, and is never one off.

[Simmo79]

The figure thrown about is 100 individual matters coming out of this investigation, which matches up with Laz's numbers on the previous page. Sounds like your mate is on the level.

Rob - $40m was the size of the betting plunge from Asia on an A-League game this season. That scares the sh*t out of me. I always assumed the league was too low profile to attract gambling and match-fixing from overseas.

[the crow]

Drug detection and therefore doping laws will always lag behind doping in sport, its an unfortunate fact of sport in the modern age. What is going to come out of this mess will be interesting and disturbing for sporting administrators.

[yob]

The figure thrown about is 100 individual matters coming out of this investigation, which matches up with Laz's numbers on the previous page. Sounds like your mate is on the level.

Rob - $40m was the size of the betting plunge from Asia on an A-League game this season. That scares the sh*t out of me. I always assumed the league was too low profile to attract gambling and match-fixing from overseas.

Do you know which game this was?

I had a totally sus result screw me out of collecting $1500 on an 8 leg multi!

[Simmo79]

Another thought: match-fixing, PEDs and other integrity issues that attract organised crime are all just too hard for sporting bodies or minor govt agencies to investigate. They don't have the experience, skills or powers to really rip into these networks. Only the cops and crime agencies are capable of getting to the bottom of this, as demonstrated by how much the ACC could achieve in 1 year in a relatively minor investigation by their standards, compared to the bodies that are formally charged with keeping sport clean, who apparently couldn't catch a cold.

The Crime Commission just took a quick pass through the industry, picked off 100 corrupt people and moved onto real crime again. Now that they're pretty much done with their investigation I reckon any player or official that is dirty and got away with it this time will get off until the next time the cops have a look into sport. If any sport ends up with a disproportionate number of players caught this time, it's not necessarily because it's a dirtier sport. The other sports just dodged bullets.

[Simmo79]

The figure thrown about is 100 individual matters coming out of this investigation, which matches up with Laz's numbers on the previous page. Sounds like your mate is on the level.

Rob - $40m was the size of the betting plunge from Asia on an A-League game this season. That scares the sh*t out of me. I always assumed the league was too low profile to attract gambling and match-fixing from overseas.

Do you know which game this was?

I had a totally sus result screw me out of collecting $1500 on an 8 leg multi!

No particulars beyond VicPol claiming it was a game in Melbourne.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6572450675

[Simmo79]

Drug detection and therefore doping laws will always lag behind doping in sport, its an unfortunate fact of sport in the modern age. What is going to come out of this mess will be interesting and disturbing for sporting administrators.

That's pretty much it.

The way this lot have been caught and Lance Armstrong was not through piss or blood testing it was through witness testimony, and other evidence gathering techniques that make up 'police work'. It was valiant of AD to claim that the AFL could develop an intelligence capability to deal with threats to the game's integrity but only law enforcement are genuinely capable of tackling this.

[nobleoz]

AD has been pretty spot on. Warned about "sport scientists" last year. AFL integrity officer appointed in 2008. 1st in the 4 codes. Rugby in 2000. NRL today. FFA doesn't think this ACC report refers to them.

[Simmo79]

Yeah, no. None of the measures that you're trying to credit actually achieved anything. In hindsight they just look like posturing.

[yob]

Scanning through the list of Melbourne fixtures this season, the most sus result of them is Melbourne Heart letting in 3 second half goals against Newcastle. Except that Heart have been going home at half time all year long.

[the crow]

Mexican inquisition......witch hunt....either way it will be a sh*t fight.

Betting revenue and it's ongoing integrity in Australia is going to be put under the pump as well. Current revenue is approx 19 bn

The sad outcome is Australia's reputation of FairPlay in sport is down the shitter....and that makes me mad as an Australian sports fan.

[Rob]

The figure thrown about is 100 individual matters coming out of this investigation, which matches up with Laz's numbers on the previous page. Sounds like your mate is on the level.

Rob - $40m was the size of the betting plunge from Asia on an A-League game this season. That scares the sh*t out of me. I always assumed the league was too low profile to attract gambling and match-fixing from overseas.

The low (comparative) salaries paid to A-League players would probably make it more attractive to match fixers. Add to that soccer is a sport where 3 individuals on the park (i.e the referee and 2 goalkeepers) have a massive impact on the result - right up there with pitchers in baseball and quarterbacks in gridiron. Consequently I can see why it would be a target.

Out of interest, what would the average salary paid to goalkeepers in the A-League? $100k?

[cam]

Wow, what a day! Who knows what this could lead to. So many unknowns. Guess we'll just need to wait..

[Simmo79]

Keeper's salaries? Dunno but $100k would be common, $200k for a good 'un.

Fozzie reminisces about match-fixing:

During my time as a professional player in Asia, I had some experience with how both match-fixing and organised crime can infiltrate football. Witnessing it gives you a perspective of how the game can be blighted by the people attracted to its glamour.
In Singapore in the early '90s, as a young man of 20, I played in the Malaysian competition. Just a few years later, they had over 80 players jailed for match-fixing.

Walking in as a naive Aussie kid, I found an entirely unfamiliar world where players didn't necessarily play to win, or for the team, but in which numerous gambling syndicates controlled players throughout the league and paid them either to win or lose, according to the odds.
Hard to believe, until I was approached in a Singapore nightclub and casually asked by a new acquaintance, who had obviously worked to ingratiate himself into my inner circle, to provide information on team selection and pitch status prior to games for cash.

He must have thought I was a loony, because I just stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was asking. That was that. An approach was made and, when no interest - or even understanding - was shown, they moved on.
We were aware of two major syndicates which competed against each other to buy players and, at times, both paid players in the same team - one to win, the other to lose. One of the syndicates was known for using the national lottery to pay their lackeys, through the following method: the syndicate would buy a winning lottery ticket from the lucky recipient for 110¢ for every dollar. They then used the ticket to pay the cheating player, who simply cashed it in. Simple, clean and untraceable.

We knew of a player in the league who had ''won'' the lotto at least three times. He must have been the luckiest guy around, or the crookest. We also knew of players who had their legs broken after failing to throw a game or wanting out of the racket.
In Hong Kong the following year, I saw a different side of the game, the association with organised crime. There was one man who was always at training, a mate to the players and seemingly a nice guy. I noticed he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm but thought nothing of it.

Following a successful cup run, though, this gentleman invited us to the Macau casino, into his own private room. Cognac and karaoke galore, until we were all silenced by a minder as two guards brought a very scared looking fellow into the room. They were struggling to hold him as he wriggled to break free.

The room host yelled and screamed at him, before pulling out a switchblade as the guards grabbed the guy's hand and held it forward. A cut was made from his forefinger to the base of the palm, to much screaming and blood. He was then thrown out of the room.
Turned out he owed money to the host, a money lender who had his runners on the casino floor. This is what happened - the first step anyway - if payment was not forthcoming. Needless to say, while the local boys already understood who he was, my night was brought to an abrupt end and I'm happy to have never laid eyes on this gentleman again.
Singapore and Malaysia was, otherwise, a wonderful place to play for many Australian professionals, including plenty of Socceroos who, like me, thoroughly enjoyed integrating into a new culture. It provided a beautiful perspective on the people and the region that leaves a lifelong passion and empathy.

To this day, my affection for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other Asian football nations is undiminished, but many have a problem with gambling on football and the buying of players, referees and games. They're far from alone. Like chum in the water, cash attracts the sharks. In football there is money. Lots of it.

But there's plenty more besides. Kudos, political gravity, influence, fame, excitement, everything that is attractive to all walks of life, whether ethical or otherwise.

Talking about corruption, racism or any other of the issues we face in the world game must always be prefaced, at least in a country that has only recently fallen in love with the game, with the caveat that, as the world's most popular sport, we possess both the best and worst of mankind.

Dutchman Edgar Davids said this week football is a ''microscope to the world''. He's absolutely right. Without having travelled and experienced everything the game has to offer, and seen first-hand the incredible scale of football, this can be difficult to digest for those with a singular picture of how sport should be played. Football is played by the world and, just as in any other walk of life, the diversity reflects this.

For those of us who love the game, any stories of corruption and stains on its integrity are painful to take as even we struggle to understand why people use the game for nefarious purposes, but whether it is the cause of racism, which has been at the forefront recently, or match-fixing, the vaccine can only be administered once the wound has been opened and bled dry.