Doubt cast on betting claims

GAELIC GAMES/Match-fixing allegations: A leading bookmakers firm has cast doubt on the likelihood of betting coups being launched on the basis of GAA fixtures.

The issue reached the public domain with a report in the weekend's Sunday Tribune that an anonymous bookmaker had expressed misgivings about betting patterns in National League matches.

According to Paddy Power, spokesperson for PaddyPower bookmakers, the firm didn't have a problem with betting business in relation to Gaelic games and has never suspended betting on a Gaelic games event.

He pointed out that the leagues tended to be less predictable but attributed that to its status as a secondary competition.

"With the National Leagues we're aware that they're not as intense as the championship and that teams sometimes use them to blood young players.

"But you can see that if you follow team news. You're aware that some teams will be better in the championship than in the league. That's nothing to do with the league being bent but because of the importance of the championship.

"We will know nearly as much as there is to know about teams in the championship; if for instance Seán Óg Ó hAilpín is injured, someone might want to bet against Cork and we'll be able to assess that but in the league it's common for teams not to be full-strength."

Power also pointed out that modern technology means that coups are harder to organise because bookies are more quickly aware of irregular betting patterns and have greater access to up-to-the-minute information.

"We will shorten the odds if something is happening like unexpected money coming in. We have people who keep a close eye on websites and if they discover something they've left out of their calculations they'll adjust the odds but we've never had reason to suspend betting on a GAA event.

"We're never open to lose a huge amount. So many bets come in through the internet and over the phone that it's pretty hard to launch a coup. You'd have to make small bets in shops all over the country like the Gay Future coup and even then as soon as that got picked up on the risk spreadsheet we'd be on to it. If anything big comes in the alarm bells go off.

"Anyway we don't do a lot of business on the leagues. We do a little bit, but in comparison to the championship it's very little."

Power did say that the firm has had reason to suspend business on other events, which they believe are subject to fixing.

"We've stopped taking money on anything involving Albanian soccer. We noticed that accounts were being opened in Eastern Europe to bet on Albanian matches and precise bets like 3-1 or 3-2 were coming in so we just stopped doing it. I'd say we lost about €10,000 on it overall."

But as regards Gaelic games, Paddy Power believes that there aren't any immediate grounds for concern.

"I don't think it's an issue. I've talked to our GAA guys and they say that although they have lost through mistakes in the past they're not aware of anything suspicious having happened in GAA events.

"If we thought there was anything we'd suspend betting or payment."