BETTING ACTIVITY NOT TOLERATED ON OLYMPIC TEAM
OLYMPICS, May 16: Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates has given a stern warning to all athletes and officials of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team, that any activity related to betting or gambling activities will have them thrown off the London Team.
Speaking at the AOC Annual General Meeting, in Sydney on Saturday, Coates said that any betting activities would not be tolerated to protect the integrity and values of the Olympic Team.
He wants athletes to be named and shamed, and Team Chef de Mission Nick Green to send home any athletes who bring their sport into disrepute by using inside information for illegal gambling.
"If the AOC Team Membership Agreements do not already make it clear that being involved in betting or gambling on the Games or providing inside information is conduct we will not tolerate, they will now," Coates said.
The 2012 Team Membership Agreement is being updated to make not only betting by athletes and officials an offence but also that of disclosing any confidential information to third parties.
Team members must also agree that the AOC can collect information on them related to such activities, and provide this information to law enforcement agencies.
The AOC Ethical Behaviour By-Law has been amended so that any conviction of such activity will be dealt with like any other criminal offense that brings the Team and the athletes' sport into disrepute.
The Olympic Movement globally, lead by Jacques Rogge, views irregular and illegal betting as a serious threat to sport and society.
Coates has been lobbying Prime Minister Julia Gillard to establish a national Sports Betting Authority that is independent of sports and umbrella bodies, able to investigate cheating and fraudulent conduct to best protect Australian sport - similar to the establishment of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
Coates believes federal legislation should give the authority powers to:
- record the names of offending athletes, officials, clubs and third parties of ill-repute on a public register, that is to "name and shame" them;
- phone tap and seize information, with exemption from privacy legislation;
- share information with police, the tax office and international authorities;
- establish minimum penalties across sports at all levels, including club level, and suspend bodies who do not apply them.
Senator Mark Arbib Federal Minister for Sport attended the AGM and told media a 10-year jail sentence is one proposal for anyone caught match fixing
"We can't out our heads in the sand, we must act and we must act soon," Arbib Said.
Media release issued by the AOC