Viewpoint DECEMBER 2011 professions chanGinG


he laBelled not criminals, not underGround BettinG, But the GamBlinG industry. that’s like sayinG a car thief is part of the motorinG industry.


The BBC reporting on matching fixing by three Pakistani cricketers last month drove me to distraction. The reporter managed in a single sentence to vindicate the players, wipe the blame from the sport and assign all guilt to the gambling industry. He stated that the case has “reminded everyone in the starkest way possible that the sport’s current measures for tackling the influence of the gambling industry are inadequate.” He didn't say the problem was due to criminality, he blamed the betting industry in Asia. The cricketers, it seems, were at the mercy of the Asian ‘gambling industry.’


“Punters are not only offered bets on the timing of no-balls and wides,” the reporter continued, “but there are also brackets - where you gamble on the number of runs scored in a set period of overs - and


bets on how many players will wear sunglasses. It is now possible in India to bet on specific incidents - like a no-ball - just 10 seconds before the bowler arrives at the crease. All these tiny events might seem inconsequential, but they are easier to manipulate than the outcome of matches.”


That’s probably true, but again the reporter is not taking about criminals or underground betting, but the gambling industry. That's like saying a car thief is


part of the motoring industry. The story blamed the fact that you can bet on all aspects of a cricket match as the reason for corruption in the sport. The argument being that choice provokes criminality. Well, a policeman could, or course, criticise you for buying that large screen flat panel TV for your house, when you know it could attract thieves. But should the vast majority of people have their choices limited by the possible future actions of a criminal element?


The idea that the gambling industry is at fault for the actions of the cricketers is ridiculous. If national cricketing heroes want to engage in criminal activity, that’s about crime in sport and criminals are to blame. Gambling might provide the opportunity, but so does an open window or an unlocked car - it’s about the choices we make, not the options open to us.


To have the BBC journalist justify the actions of the cricket players because of the size of the Asian cricket betting market, $50bn in 2010 according to his report, is as relevant as pointing out the size of the oil industry, while stating that tankers are, as a result, just asking to by targeted by Somalis. The oil industry is therefore, on this logic, ‘tempting’ the pirates.


Is it wrong to think of your entire profession as filled with wanton mindless idiots, or does that just come with age and personal experience?


Lewis Pek Editor - Tel: +44 (0) 1942 879 291, Email: lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk


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December 2011 Page 4


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