The Real Reason Why French Tennis Wants To Stop Online Betting

THE REAL REASON WHY FRENCH TENNIS WANTS TO STOP ONLINE BETTING
French tennis boss claims exclusive right to exploit events

With some hefty Bwin-initiated slander litigation in prospect over claims by the French Open organisers that online betting is a danger to the sport (see previous InfoPowa report) this week saw a senior French tennis executive taking a more cautious line…and perhaps giving the real reason for French opposition to online betting on tennis events.

Commenting on the slander action taken against it by Bwin, Jean-Francois Vilotte, chief executive of the FFT, said: “Contrary to what the operators think, we make no value judgments against them.”

More interestingly, he continued: “According to the ‘Code du Sport’, the organiser alone has the right to exploit his event. We only wish to reassert that right.”

Vilotte was announcing plans by the French Tennis Federation to prevent risks related to betting on this year’s Roland Garros French Open, which starts at the end of next (May) month.

The Federation is setting up a helpline for players and trainers to blow the whistle on any bets or approaches that come to their notice. The organisation will also continue to ban the use of computers and mobile phones in the stands during matches. And all games will be recorded in an effort to analyse and control the betting volumes and the types of bets being placed.

The issue of integrity in tennis surfaced last (2007) year when an online betting site – Betfair.com – voided all wagers on a match in Poland between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns.

The French federation is suing Bwin, Betfair and Ladbrokes – demanding a court injunction to stop these companies from taking bets on the French Open, and seeking a fine of Euro 50 000 euros a day for any violations (see previous InfoPowa report).

In the Bwin slander action, spokesman Antoine Costanzo claims that the head of the French tennis federation made slanderous comments when he launched the court case and that his company seeks Euro 1 million in damages as a consequence. Bwin claims legal standing because it is a major provider of online gaming entertainment.

Countering the allegations of French Open organisers, the European Gaming and Betting Association has said that the Internet is an excellent tool to trace any irregularities in betting operations. The organisation, which has most of Europe’s top online gambling companies among its members, said Internet operations left “…a perfect audit trail, one that can, where appropriate, be shared with regulators and other authorities in order to trace bets and hence provide valuable evidence in the fight against fraud.”

French Open organisers said that betting companies are tainting the reputation of the tournament and unfairly using it as a way of making money. They argued that if a match-fixing scandal hit the French Open, it would undermine the value of the tournament, which in 2007 had revenue of Euro 118 million and attracted 450 000 fans to Roland Garros.

The EGBA insisted betting companies stood to lose just as much. “Any match-fixing would penalise bookmakers severely as they take financial risk when setting odds for all sporting events,” it said in a statement.

Along with football and horse racing, tennis is among the most popular sports to bet on in Europe.