It has been an open secret for years. Gaining the nod to hold the Soccer World Cup involves " round robins " of bribe payments to secure enough votes to swing the deal. What was surprising was how long this has been studiously ignored - and the millions of dollars that have changed hands amongst the coterie of powerful people entitled to cast a vote.
Corruption is with us in every walk of life. It is part of the human psyche to wish to become rich ! We all want to live in a better house than the people next door - and drive a better car and be looked up to on the social register - and if that means cheating on the taxes we pay or " bending " a few laws - then so be it !
A long time ago we had very restrictive gambling laws. The only legal betting option was horse racing and to legally bet you needed to go to the races and place your bet trackside with a registered bookmaker. The ordinary punter was catered for by illegal SP bookies who accepted bets in the bar of the local pub and eventually the state tired of missing out on gambling tax money and made the TAB legal. It was now possible to place a bet on sporting events other than horse racing.
Those bookmakers also extended their reach. Phone betting and Internet betting has enabled them to diversify the product they offer and as a consequence there is temptation for players to artificially create play incidents to order - to enable long odds bets to pay a handsome dividend. The finger has been pointed at Rugby League, Australian Rules and just about every sport where competition results in winners and losers.
Now we are shocked to learn that " match fixing " has intruded into the sport of tennis. Several players have openly admitted that they have coerced others to deliberately lose a game by paying a bribe to gain that end. It seems that this form of corruption even extends to the high end of the sport - such as Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
It is just so simple - and so rewarding. Often it is a match between a talented player and one seemingly hopeless in the early elimination round that is chosen. Those in the know pile on bets for the " hopeless " one to win - and to the surprise of the judges, that is exactly what happens. The betting agencies are watching this closely now, and in the event of big money suddenly flowing to a low grade game they become suspicious - and refuse further bets.
The opportunities for betting corruption seem ever widening. What is known as " in play " betting is now widespread. The betting agencies deliver changing odds as the game progresses and this is a far change from the time when bets ceased at the starting post. Now bets can be placed at varying stages of the contest and the odds change as the chance of victory swings either way. There is pressure building for this form of betting to be banned.
Naturally, the conveners of all sports hope that their contests will be squeaky clean but in this age that is probably wishful thinking. Performance enhancing drugs are a fact of life and even the Olympics are tainted and the very nature of gambling for money on the result of a contest will introduce the possibility of corruption.
It seems that we are now in the age of parallel competitions. On the one hand the competitors are striving for success, and in the background the agencies tasked with rooting out corruption are doing battle to eliminate the human factor that makes cheating possible.
That is a situation that has persisted - down the centuries - from the time the barter system changed and money in the form of coins put in an appearance. Corruption was part of that evolution. It is only an optimist that thinks that corruption can ever be separated from the sporting world !
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