Support builds for Australia online in-play legalisation
Major sporting body backs removal of restrictions but Senator Xenophon labels move as "greedy"
Support for legalising online in-play wagering in Australia appears to be gaining momentum after a leading professional sports body joined Sportsbet in calling for the government to change the current laws.
In its submission to the federal government’s Review of the Impact of Illegal Offshore Wagering, Paddy Power-owned Sportsbet urged politicians to adopt a “platform neutral approach” and remove all in-play restrictions contained in the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA). Live betting is currently only permitted over the phone in Australia.
Meanwhile in a separate submission, the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) backed proposals to lift the ban on online in-play betting which it said had created an “integrity blind spot”.
COMPPS consists of seven of the country’s leading sporting bodies including the Australian Football League, Australian Rugby Union, Cricket Australia, Football Federation Australia, National Rugby League, Netball Australia and Tennis Australia.
Sportsbet also called on politicians to make it a legal requirement for operators to be licensed in the country in order to be permitted to offer betting services to Australian consumers.
The federal government’s review, which will report to the Minister of Social Services and the Minister of Communications by 18 December 2015, was first announced on 7 September by the former minister Scott Morrison and is being led by the former premier of New South Wales Barry O’Farrell.
However, the position of COMPPS was labelled by long-time online gambling critic Senator Nick Xenophon as being “greedy and a “naked grab” for more money.
“This greedy move is all about boosting the bottom lines of the professional sports bodies and the sports betting companies with which they have licensing agreements,” Xenophon said.
“And the unacceptable consequence of this move would be more gambling addiction in Australia.”
The news comes after Tabcorp last week called on the government to “eliminate any ambiguity” around in-play wagering and criticised the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) “failure” to investigate the potential illegality of the product offered by international rivals.