Will Hill Exec Cautions on Prohibition of In-Play Betting

This week, William Hill chief exec Ralph Topping issued a statement, warning about the prohibitions on key trends like in-play betting, claiming that they would only push Aussie internet punters to offshore websites. According to him, allowing legal bookmakers to offer bets that customers would otherwise place offshore is the best way to control gaming, protect players from unregulated operators and stamp out potential corruption. Regarding misinformed opinions of some politicians and observers that in-play betting encouraged corruption in sport, he said that "One of the most uneducated comments that can be made about sport and its integrity in the UK, is that that kind of 'in-play betting' would lead to fixings and whatever else. There has been none of that happen. "The best way you can regulate a business and control it is to have legitimate bookmakers involved. The problem you get is when the business is run by criminals or unregulated bookmakers." He also added that politicians should be careful not to obstruct the Internet, as it has proved to be more than effective when it comes to profits. "There is a vast offshore market here, which I think you will not be able to stop through blocking," he said. "They have tried it in Italy, they have tried it in France and it has failed and I think you have to acknowledge that the best way to fight that market is to legitimise what happens in our market and allow it onshore and allow responsible participants to have an audit trail on that market."