A-League betting scandal proves sport must learn from tennis in latest integrity drama

An A-League player has been arrested for allegedly deliberately copping yellow cards in the latest integrity incident involving sports business. Another major sport is watching closely.

The arrest of an A-League import for allegedly copping deliberate yellow cards has shone a spotlight into a shady world.

Western United’s Japanese recruit Riku Danzaki and another player from a lower-level league could face jail time following an inquiry by the Victorian police sporting integrity unit into betting irregularities over several yellow cards received.

The duo will appear in court in July.

When it comes to betting and crowd support the A-League leads a double life.

The A-League may not dominate the sporting landscape in Australia via crowds and media support but betting on it overseas is simply huge.

Underfunded and under the radar the A-League may be, but more than 1000 agencies in the world are licensed to bet on it. And many other illegal ones do so as well.

“A-League betting is massive in Asia ... massive,’’ said Gerard Daffy, a four-decade observer of betting trends in the industry through his work with outlets including TAB and Centrebet.

“Most Australians would have no idea how big the betting is on a global scale. Aside from the head-to-head there are hundreds of different bet types on soccer matches.’’

Another long-standing betting official said, much like in cricket, the further down the scale you get in soccer leagues the bigger the danger of corruption. The A-League sits “somewhere in the middle size wise.’’

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Western United’s Riku Danzaki and another man will face court in July. Picture: Getty Images

“There are some leagues lower than the A-League where they are playing for peanuts but still bet on them. You get a yellow card in a lower league game people are betting on and who cares? No one. You can equate it to 10 or 20 years ago when tennis rorting at the lower levels became a really big issue and they started to rub players out.

“There were times when a tennis player would win $40,000 for winning five matches in a Challenger series but if he lost in the first round and they had a big bet on him losing they could win 10 times that amount without anyone batting an eyelid.’’

The charges could lead to jail time for Ruki Danzaki. Picture: Getty

Such is the betting focus on lower-league soccer games in Australia that a common feature is at least three people from overseas betting and data firms with laptops and phones monitoring every beat of the minor league match which might feature your local town are sending reports back to overseas betting agencies.

When a penalty corner is called, the spies flick their phones in unison to send alerts to their faraway bosses to halt or adjust betting.

“They give running commentary on the scores and where the ball was (to their overseas employers) and whether a player has been sent off,’’ Daffy said.

“Everything that can affect the result. That can be a lower-league game featuring a team from Ballarat or Morwell.’’

Tennis officials are watching the A League’s issues with great interest because they have had their own similar problems.

Seven years ago Adam Lewis QC, claimed in a $40 million report tennis had been struck by a “tsunami’’ of corruption at lower levels involving “substantial’’ match-fixing often involving players struggling to make ends meet.

A survey of more than 3200 players found that more than 14 per cent – 464 players – had knowledge of corrupt activity in the sport.

Lewis traced the problem back to the ITF’s decision in 2012 to sign a $150 million deal with Sportradar data to track live scores from small leagues across the globe. As soon as bookmakers started betting in play on small leagues, corrupt gamblers moved in.

Soccer, and many other sports, are now facing the same challenges.

Originally published as A-League betting scandal proves sport must learn from tennis in latest integrity drama