10 year jail terms for match fixers

The Federal Government is to push for nationwide 10-year jail terms for those found guilty of match fixing as part of a range of new measures designed to head off corruption in professional sport.

Federal Sports Minister Mark Arbib has backed the recommendations of the NSW Law Reform Commission for lengthy jail terms for match fixers, saying that match fixing posed the biggest threat to sport since doping.

Next Friday, Senator Arbib will meet with State counterparts to discuss the measures which are expected to see an agreement for uniform criminal laws for match fixing. However, it will then be up to the State and Federal attorneys-general to agree on the penalties.

Senator Arbib told the Sydney Morning Herald "my personal view is that 10-year sentences send the right message to people who try to corrupt sport and fix matches.

"Getting action on match fixing, when there are different laws in each State and territory and different views, will not be easy and it won't come quickly.

"But we are very encouraged by the spirit of co-operation and genuine desire from the states and territories to take action."

Also on the agenda at the State Sport and Recreation Ministers Council will be laws to ban spot or exotic betting and laws against the sporting equivalent of insider trading.

This would make it an offence for somebody to leak information, such as a team selection, to somebody else in the knowledge they were going to make money from the information.

The spot betting ban would apply to all major codes but the codes would be empowered to eliminate the types of bets they felt threatened the integrity of their game.

Yesterday, the NRL prempted the process to ban spot bets by saying it would withdraw betting on the first and last scoring plays of the second half and whether there would be a field goal in a game.

The NRL will also remove the live updates of betting odds during games with changes to come into effect from round 14 of the 2011 competition.

Former Canterbury Bulldogs forward Ryan Tandy is facing charges over his alleged role following a big betting plunge last year on a penalty goal being the first scoring play in a Bulldogs-North Queensland match.

The AFL is in talks with betting agencies about which spot bets it wants banned.

Senator Arbib will also push for a system of better information sharing between betting agencies and sporting organisations.

This is designed to prevent a repeat, for example, of a rush of bets that were made before the agencies became aware last year that the Melbourne Storm had been stripped of its points and past premierships.

In the future, the betting agencies would be officially informed of such pending decisions.

Last week, Federal and State Governments announced they would phase out the publication and broadcast of live odds during professional sporting fixtures stating that if the respective codes did not self-regulate within 12 months, there would be legislation.

The Ministers Council meeting is also expected to support a national code of conduct for sporting organisations and the establishment of a national sport integrity unit.

Senator Arbib added "most sports fans I talk to are worried gambling could influence young people and make them think that sport is just about gambling."

28th March 2011 - AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT WELCOMES CONSULTATION ON MATCH FIXING

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