AFL Brownlow Medal 2023: Round-by-round betting to be allowed in surprise twist
The umpire betting scandal surrounding the 2022 Brownlow Medal was expected to cause a crackdown on gambling controls, instead the gambling watchdog has opted for another method.
Victoria’s gambling watchdog will allow round-by-round betting on this year’s Brownlow Medal count with tighter controls despite the umpire vote leak scandal.
In a surprise twist, punters will still be able to place bets on who polls three votes in individual games in next month’s count with a payout limit of $250.
But there will be increased surveillance of the umpire voting process, more information sharing between the bookies and the league, and increased data and social media tracking.
AFL players at the start and ends of their careers will also be more closely scrutinised to help ward against betting corruption in footy.
It was widely expected this type of three-vote market would be outlawed completely following the arrest of four people including AFL umpire Michael Pell in November over suspicious betting.
Pell is accused of sharing information about which players received the maximum votes in games he umpired in 2022.
Successful wages were placed.
A Victoria Police investigation, which was launched in November, is ongoing. No charges have been laid.
The allegations prompted calls to ban the game-by-game three-vote markets, but they will remain available to punters this year after a review by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.
The VGCCC has implemented tighter restrictions to help protect the integrity of the Brownlow betting system including capping payouts to $250.
Betting companies will also hand over all data it has on game-by-game markets to the AFL for strict monitoring.
VGCCC chairperson Fran Thorn said the markets would remain open, but only after a crackdown on them following talks with the AFL about ways to improve security.
“We have determined the AFL’s control improvements are adequate and determined a prohibition on the 2023 Brownlow round-by-round voting is not required at this time,” Thorn said.
“We are satisfied with the immediate control improvements but will continue to monitor the implementation of additional priority measures including a real-time transaction monitoring system, the prohibition of betting providers over compliance concerns, a monthly audit of unapproved bet types and the categorising of vulnerable player groups at a higher risk of being compromised, such as young players and those at the end of their careers.”
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