In what is being called one of the largest anti-illegal betting task forces ever assembled, the Asian Racing Federation is planning a full assault on underground bookmakers.
The federation has signed memorandums of understanding with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Hong Kong Jockey Club to join the taskforce campaign. Members of Interpol will also brief integrity officers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand illegal betting and the size, scope and sophistication of operators, according to local reports.
“It will be a sophisticated and strong taskforce that will be put in place,” Racing Victoria executive general manager of integrity Dayle Brown told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We are very keen to have an exchange of information with other countries across Asia.”
“We have made it a rule of racing that licensed people must bet with authorized bookmakers and it is against the rules to bet with these underground operators,” he said. “We’ve got to do it as a united front. In some parts of Asia, more than $1 billion is going out of the racing economy and that’s got to stop.”
Officials hope the taskforce will provide a platform for co-operation and information sharing between 21 racing jurisdictions that make up the Asian Racing Federation, according to the Herald.
Martin Purbrick, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s head of security and chairman of the taskforce, told the paper that the taskforce’s goal will be to keep horse racing clean and help administrators understand how match-fixing works.
“Horse racing has had a long, historical relationship with betting which has left it better placed than some sports to deal with threats to integrity from betting,” he said. “However, illegal betting markets have grown hugely in the past decade, especially in Asia, and this has brought new threats from organized criminal groups who seek to profit from illegal betting markets and sports corruption. The ARF is resolute in combating this threat.”
