Olympic Betting Scams to Be Severely Fought

Far East and India to be closely monitored An announcement came at the very beginning of the Olympic Year that there are extensive actions being pursued by the British Metropolitan Police in order to fight illegal betting scams and event fixing at the Olympics, which will be held in London. With that aim in mind, the Police have launched a dedicated special unit which will work in conjunction with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Interpol to track suspicious gambling activity abroad. In addition, the Olympic Committee has formed another special unit, which will watch out for unusually large wagers placed on events or competitors by monitoring the international betting market. In Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson's opinion, the fixing of games has become a bigger issue than that of doping: "You cannot underestimate the threat this poses because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing falls to pieces." According to the minister, while Western authorities are successfully dealing with identification and stamping out of illegal betting activities, the main problem may lie in Far East and India, which lack regulation of the practice, so its authorities' hands are tied.