ILLEGAL betting poses an increasing danger to football, with players in under-17s teams at risk of being targeted by crime syndicates that are fraudulently making millions from bookmakers, the head of the sport's governing body has warned.
Scottish Football Association (SFA) chief executive Stewart Regan said young players are particularly at risk.
Illegal gambling is a huge industry in Asia and the Far East, and Mr Regan added that everywhere games are taking place in Scotland - not just in under-17s matches, but women's games and across the leagues - betting is a growing problem.
Mr Regan's comments came as he outlined how the SFA will maintain a zero-tolerance approach to betting in football in the face of growing concerns about match fixing.
He said: "The issue is betting on matches and betting in matches is becoming a major concern across football generally.
"We should be aware of match fixing. Thankfully, at this stage, we haven't had any evidence to suggest there is match fixing in Scotland. But what we are seeing is evidence of 'activity' in the stands, where individuals from Asia are commentating on matches into laptops - and giving feedback - on everything from the Lowland League to under-17s and women's matches.
"Anywhere there is a game taking place, we're starting to see [betting] 'activity'. Whether it's legal or illegal is a matter for the authorities. But any attempt to defraud bookmakers by allowing bets to be placed before a book has been closed on a particular event has to be looked at."
He said one example could include a player who scores in an under-17s match.
Mr Regan added: "Between the goal being scored and the message being relayed through a microphone to someone in Asia - if someone is able to place a bet before the book is closed, that's fraud and something we have to take seriously. We've had examples of that in Scotland and it's not something we're prepared to tolerate. Through the work of David Brand, our integrity officer, and contacts at club level, we have managed to deal with a number of instances like that in the past few months.
"Match fixing could certainly happen here, of course it could. That's why we're taking a zero tolerance stance on betting in football."
He said betting on football matches was "just the thin end of the wedge," adding: "From that, there is an opportunity for people to be influenced. That can then lead to people being encouraged to do something and influence the result."
Earlier this year Rangers midfielder Ian Black, 28, was fined £7500 and given a 10-match ban, with seven of those suspended until the end of the season, after admitting to a breach of SFA regulations on football betting.
Black was accused of gambling on 160 matches over a seven-year period, including betting against his own team on three occasions.
In February, European police announced a Singapore-based syndicate had directed match fixing for at least 380 football games in Europe alone, making more than £7 million. A further 300 suspicious matches were identified, including qualifying games for the World Cup.
Last week police arrested a further 14 people in Singapore.
Jack Ross, a former player who is head of communications for the Professional Footballers Association, said: "We've been proactive on this rather than reactive because it is becoming more and more of a problem throughout world and European football.
"It is becoming more widespread not just in football but we've seen it in so many sports including cricket and snooker. If people lose faith in the unpredictability of football in Scotland they will not pay to go and watch."
Superintendent Niven Rennie, western chairman for the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (Asps), said: "We must do our utmost to ensure football maintains the level of integrity that the public expect."
Interview: Sport
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article