If gambling is regulated won’t match fixers criminals and unscrupulous bookies just carry on using the black market?
We must understand why fixing is done. This is done to earn abnormal profits by managing outcomes. If one can’t manage this outcome, he would not be able to earn abnormal profits. When sport betting is regulated, regulatory commission / nominee with the help of sports associations would define the rules regulation and type of betting not the fixer. Hence general public will prefer to bet on an officially recognized betting platform and will avoid route of illegal bookmakers, nobody wants to associate themselves with criminals. Moreover public will have incentives in placing bets with licensed operators. Therefore, as customers move towards the legitimate regulated industry the volume of betting and money moves away from the illegitimate industry – it chokes the supply of liquidity to dishonest operators and thus reduction in sports fraud like match faxing.
But, how to control remote gambling?
This is a difficult question. The problem is that the internet has fundamentally changed the marketplace for gambling. 20 years ago, gambling required the gambler and the operator to be physically proximate. Now, with penetration of mobile and internet devices and rapid developments in on-line payment mechanisms it is quite possible for a gambler in one country to place a bet with an operator on the other side of the world. Increasingly, Indians are placing bets in this way – and this adds another dimension to the problem of regulation. But these problems are not insurmountable – many jurisdictions in Europe and elsewhere in the world have found solutions to the regulation of international gambling, provided there is a proper framework.
Is betting morally wrong?
Many people have strong feelings about gambling – these views emanate from religious or moral views relating to human relationships and attitudes to money and so on. However, whilst we believe that it is perfectly legitimate for members of the public to have different moral views or personal preferences either in favour or against sport betting, it should probably be treated as morally neutral: something which lies between an entertainment and a financial service. Public should be given the respect and should have freedom of choice as to whether to bet or not, and ensuring that there exists a framework designed to protect the young and vulnerable and to ensure good law and order.
How is gambling regulation being dealt in other countries?
Some countries (mostly those where there is a strong religious influence on the state) such as some states in the Middle East and South East Asia have taken the view that the role of government is to protect the public from what it sees as sinful behavior. Such states often impose a complete ban on gambling (and often, for example, severely restrict the consumption of alcohol also).
At the other end of the spectrum, some governments view betting/gambling as an export industry, designed to drive trade and revenue creating tourism and employment. Examples include the US State of Nevada, the Island of Macau and some small island states where online gambling is licensed.
Most countries, however, operate somewhere between these two extremes. States which licence gambling include the UK, many European states, Australia, and a number of States in the USA. In these countries, the Government seeks to provide a framework which permits gambling, but also seeks to regulate and control gambling (and takes a share of profit in terms of tax, either as part of general fiscal revenue or directed towards particular social issues (including for example the funding of the industry itself, sports or cultural and charitable causes)).
What are the features of most regulatory systems for gambling?
Most countries that have permitted gambling/ Betting have statutory regulatory bodies/ gambling commissions created by the state which is responsible for distributing licenses to betting operators. The regulatory body will have an important role in examining license applications from third parties.
The national regulatory body (a body at the central level) could regulate disputes, where violation/breach involves more than one state’s jurisdiction. These could be power to void a particular bet, power to prosecute or seek cooperation between states as well formulating guidelines and dispensing information to the public about betting including listing events on which bets can be placed. National regulator may have state level chapters.
The regulator will have powers of entry and inspection into operator’s premises and online networks and to have co-operation from operators. Where problems are detected, the regulator will have powers to impose conditions on operators, together with a range of regulatory remedies from warnings to financial penalties removal or suspension of a license and even criminal prosecution.
What are the advantages of regulating sports betting?
The greatest advantage of regulating sports betting is going to be the accountability for the large amounts of money transferred through illegal channels and reduction in cases of match fixing, money laundering and crimes, creating knowledge and education about ill effects in a focussed manner are inbuilt conditions to save vulnerable groups. Besides, it could potentially fund sports development, education, social protection or welfare schemes and infrastructure development plan besides employment generation.
*********************************
