Report: AFL struggling to contain increased threats to betting integrity
Australian Football League’s proposal for a new centralised monitoring system faces stern opposition by operators Down Under
The Australian Football League (AFL) is allegedly struggling to handle increasing threats to betting integrity amid claims the code is facing difficulties in identifying if players, coaches and staff are using inside information to gamble.
According to a report from the Guardian Australia, leaked documents seen by the publication showed AFL executives expressing concern about the increase of integrity risks.
The code has reportedly raised concerns around several “bottlenecks” and “blindspots” that have prevented the AFL from quickly recognising integrity threats.
The documents cited three examples which illustrated the scale of the problem faced by the AFL.
One such example was an instance whereby an AFL umpire was providing advanced notices of certain outcomes to bettors, which highlighted the issue of operators being too slow to provide information when requested.
The document said: “The AFL relied on one bookmaker to identify the betting of interest and the connection with a specific umpire, with bets of interest only flagged due to a significant loss being made on the market.
“The AFL then had to request further information from all wage service providers, substantially delaying investigation and mitigating steps.”
Another example involved a player allegedly providing inside information about games to a person who placed five bets with different bookmakers.
The player in question had been told to start his next match in a different position from his usual one – information which was not publicly available to betting markets. A customer was then able to place bets on said player kicking the first goal of the game at higher odds.
The leaked document also revealed that a health professional at an AFL Women’s side was betting on matches despite being prohibited from doing so.
They placed small bets through their partner’s account, based on non-public information about injuries.
The AFL’s solution to combat these problems is to create a centralised database which tracks every gambling transaction from operators and would be monitored by third-party AI software.
Data sent to the new system would include a gambler’s full name, date of birth, full address, email address, home and mobile phone numbers and the number of bets they place.
The league noted that any database would employ “above and beyond” security measures to reflect the sensitivity of the information contained.
The report claimed many of Australia’s largest operators strongly oppose the database and have declined to sign up.
A cited source described the database as “an unprecedented and unnecessary intervention”.
Due to the volume of opposition faced, the league has reportedly decided to postpone the introduction of the database.
The AFL’s integrity services are partly funded by the gambling industry, as the league receives a cut from every bet placed on the sport or a percentage of an operator’s turnover.
The league’s new season is set to commence on 6 March.
The Guardian Australia also reported that the AFL recently wrote to operators to outline a proposal for a new minimum licence fee of A$20,000 per year.
This was later revised to payments of at least A$3,000 in 2025, A$5,000 in 2026 and A$7,000 in 2027 for smaller operators.
More than 30 smaller bookmakers sought the legal services of law firm Pat Brown Legal to negotiate a better deal.