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下面是英国电讯报的报道,同时担心足球和板球比赛会被赌博集团控制。
Fears of corruption as UK alone could gamble £25m on Beijing Olympics
There were fears that the Olympic Games could be targeted by the same gambling syndicates that have corrupted football and cricket matches around the world.
By Tom Knight
Last Updated: 10:07PM BST 08 Aug 2008
According to one expert, Tim Payton, a management consultant whose Mandate Communications company advises sporting governing bodies, the problem of betting on the outcome of Olympic sports could become as big a scourge as doping.
He said: "As the opportunities to bet on sport grows worldwide, governments and athletes will have to work as hard to keep the threat of corruption out of sport as they have with doping in the last 20 years."
In the world of tennis, the ATP were recently forced to tighten their rules over betting after several unusual betting patterns during matches.
According to Ladbrokes, betting on the Olympics in the UK is expected to reach £25 million though guesses at the worldwide market have ranged from £40 m to £100 m, largely because much of the bets in Asia are placed illegally.
The main sports targeted by punters are football, basketball, swimming and, in athletics, the men's 100 metres.
Although initially reluctant to recognise the perceived problem of betting, the International Olympic Committee have put controls in place to protect the integrity of the Games.
Beijing marks the first Games at which gambling by athletes is banned. New IOC rules mean athletes have to sign a declaration as part of their official entry that they will not bet on the Games.
New controls are now in place and it was only two weeks ago that the IOC signed an agreement with Betfair, the internet betting exchange, to establish an early warning system designed to monitor unusual betting patterns and ultimately to track them to their source. |
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