Aussie Football Cleared – No Signs of Match Setting

When a series of recent media reports accused certain teams in the Australian Football League (AFL) of match setting, a gambling watchdog organization stepped in to set things straight. Australian gambling laws permit wagering on sports, but the idea that teams would intentionally lose a game is unacceptable. Even though the teams were not thought to be fixing games in order to win secret wagers (they were accused of losing games to secure better draft picks), the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation (VCGR) felt the allegations had also had a serious impact on the sports betting industry, so they took it upon themselves to head the investigation.



Yesterday, after a month-long investigation by the VCGR into the integrity of the AFL, the official verdict has been released. Peter Cohen, executive commissioner of the VCGR, stated ”We are satisfied that there is no evidence that tanking has occurred.” It was also determined that the league’s policies have implement rules that work to prevent this sort of match setting to take place.



The AFL, however, is not content with the findings of the VCGR. The league has already asked each club to look into things on a more local level, to the extent of examining players’ phone records looking for signs of gambling influence and intentional game losses. Naturally, this will all be done with the consent of the players.



With the number of betting shops and online sportsbooks in Australia on the rise, the AFL is ever watchful of foul play. The recent surge in foreign sportsbook operators into the country has seen Australia’s sports betting industry grow tremendously in recent years. The country’s largest local sportsbook, TAB, is seeing ever more competition, both online and offline. It is natural that this rise in sports betting has lead to increased suspicion. Hopefully, the AFL’s own investigations into the integrity of their clubs will be brief and uneventful.