Reporter's Research Says Illegal Sports Betting Causing Scandals

The NFL tells US residents that legalizing sports betting would increase corruption of game results, but an investigative reporter found that only regulated gambling can prevent match fixing.

A British investigative journalist says the hundreds of corrupt soccer results being uncovered in Europe and Asia aren't caused by regulated online casinos and sportsbooks across Europe, but the massive underground gambling market in Asia and Eastern Europe. Declan Hill, who predicted that international soccer would soon see a major corruption scandal in his 2008 book "The Fix," says match fixers are laying their wagers with unregulated sports betting operators connected to organized crime.

"In Asia, the gambling market is enormous - bigger than Las Vegas and the European bookmakers combined," Hill told The New York Times. "It's huge and most of it is illegal. It's easier to hide a fraud inside a covert, criminal industry."

Regulated online gambling sites are the most difficult to scam with corrupted results, say gaming industry insiders. Online records of identities and transactions bring a level of transparency that scammers need to avoid,and technology allows the detection of unusual betting amounts and patterns, especially on more obscure contests that tend to be the prey of corruptive influences.

As many as 200 matches may have compromised results across international borders and involving a host of players and referees. But legal online sports betting services say they wern't targeted by the cheaters, as they would be able to spot the fixed matches and identify participants.

The reporting by Hill emphasizes the need for licensed and regulated online gambling, including sports betting, in order to insure the purity of game results and protect consumers. In the US, the NFL takes the position that there is not much illegal sports betting, and legalizing the practice would greatly increase temptation for cheaters. But the evidence is clear that regulation and transparency may be the only way to prevent a scandal like the current soccer situation from enveloping the NFL.