New report finds funding is already ‘ample’ to fund honesty issues with the gambling industry already providing €3.4 billion a year to European Union sport.
Thursday 11th February 2010
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has published the findings of an independent study into the impact of betting on sport and asserted that there is ‘ample’ income within the professional sporting sector to fund integrity issues.
The study sought to objectively analyse the many legal, commercial and integrity issues associated with sportsbetting. It also looked at the relationship between the sporting and betting sectors in order to better assess a number of matters including concerns raised by bodies that feel threatened by the increased availability of betting on sport through the development and evolution of new technologies.
“We welcome the production of this independent report, which aims to cut through the rhetoric surrounding these issues in order that proper evidence-based policies can be developed to address integrity in sport,” said Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive Officer for the RGA.
“The licensed gambling industry shares a common aim with sports to safeguard the integrity of sporting events. However, there is no evidence that betting-related corruption is on the increase and it is very clear that there are far greater threats from other sources of non-betting related corruption such as doping.
“Unfortunately, many in the sporting world are seeking to use the issue of integrity to persuade legislators to introduce statutory mechanisms to increase the levels of funding from the betting industry. This is often dressed up as the concept of a ‘fair return’ but, as a report by Europe Economics in 2009 highlighted, the gambling industry already provides €3.4 billion per annum to European Union sport, with €2.1 billion, or 62 percent, contributed by private companies.
“In fact, is it something of an irony that this figure would be even higher if so many European Union member states had not decided to ban advertising and sponsorship by private sector gambling operators.”
The study also noted the significant economic benefits provided to professional sport through state aids along with preferential taxation measures that are not afforded to other industries. As an illustration, it noted that the Federation Of International Football Associations (FIFA), the Union Of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had combined revenues amounting to over four billion Euros in 2008.
“We completely understand why governments wish to support and promote sports and we are not seeking to challenge that,” said Hawkswood.
“However, given how wealthy many of the major professional sports are, and remembering that licensed gambling remains one of the highest taxed industries, it is galling to many in the betting industry that sports believe that the betting industry should make an even larger contribution than it already does.
“It is disappointing when so many people at state and European Union level appear willing to support them without even looking at the facts or hearing our side of the argument.”
The report concludes that such annual income streams and the €3.4 billion contributed annually by licensed gambling operators wholly undermines the argument that a new European Union-wide statutory mechanism is required to provide sports with greater control over the betting product and to enforce additional payments from gambling operators.
“Any such proposals do not appear to be valid, necessary or proportionate,” read a statement from the RGA.
“There is ample income within the sporting sector, whether it is being distributed in a fair and appropriate manner and whether a sufficient amount of those resources are being applied to deal with integrity issues is for each sport to determine.”
