2012 Olympics Chief: Gambling Bigger Threat Than Doping

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While doping scandals have marred the image of the Olympic Games in past years, organizers of the 2012 Games in London are bracing for a new type of scandal: gambling. Minister for sport Hugh Robertson believes that contest-fixing will become a bigger concern, both to the Olympic Games and sports in general, as illegal betting syndicates in India and other parts of the Far East grow unchecked. He expects at least £300M ($467M) to be wagered in Britain alone during the London Games - which run from July 27 to Aug. 12.1_3Olympics.jpg1_3Olympics.jpg Spot-betting, in which wagers are placed not on the outcome of a contest but the occurrence or timing of a particular incident or event within a contest, is of particular concern, says the minister, recalling the November arrest of three Pakistani cricket players for spot-fixing during a 2010 match.

"You cannot underestimate the threat this poses, because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing turns to pieces," Robertson told London's The Sunday Times.

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