Australian Gambling Industry in the News — Weekly Round-up for December 15, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Feb 14, 2018

Newspaper Sting Operation Uncovers Attempt To Fix Key Cricket Match

International Cricket Council launches an investigation

Australian media outlets are reporting that the International Cricket Council has launched an investigation into spot fixing allegations targeting the third Ashes Test between Australia and England in Perth, starting this week.

The investigation follows a sting operation carried out by The Sun newspaper, which claims it has evidence that bookmakers have been offering to sell details of “fixed” elements of the action in the match.

The newspaper has provided the evidence to the ICC, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Alex Marshall, the ICC’s head of anti-corruption, said: “We take the allegations extremely seriously and they will be investigated by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit working with anti-corruption colleagues from Member countries.

“From my initial assessment of the material, there is no evidence, either from The Sun or via our own intelligence, to suggest the current Test Match has been corrupted. At this stage of the investigation, there is no indication that any players in this Test have been in contact with the alleged fixers.

“The allegations are wide ranging and relate to various forms cricket in several countries, including T20 tournaments. We will look closely at all the information as part of our investigation.”

The evidence reportedly includes a secretly recorded video by Sun reporters indicated that the going rate for information on the fixes was A$200,000.

The newspaper claims a person appearing in the video is a bookmaker, who tells a reporter purporting to be a potential buyer of information:

“Before match, I will tell you this over, this runs and then you have to put all the bets on that over.”

Tabcorp Completes Odyssey Gaming Divestment (Update)

Clears the way for merger with Tatts

In compliance with an Australian Competition Tribunal pre-condition related to the merger with Tatts (see previous InfoPowa reports), Australian gambling group Tabcorp has announced that it has divested its Odyssey Gaming Services holdings, clearing the path to the merger.

Odyssey has been divested to Australian National Hotels Pty Limited (ANH), a subsidiary of Federal Group.

Tabcorp agreed to divest Odyssey as part of the process for securing authorisation for its proposed merger with Tatts from the Australian Competition Tribunal.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accepted an undertaking to divest Odyssey on 5 July 2017. A variation to the undertaking was accepted by the ACCC on 11 December 2017.

The divestment of Odyssey was conditional on the proposed combination becoming effective. Both Tabcorp and ANH have waived this condition to allow for the transfer of the business prior to the Christmas period.

Tabcorp Shareholders Approve Merger With Tatts (Update)

And more good news from the Supreme Court

Australian gambling group Tabcorp has reported that its merger plans for Tatts are on track following shareholder approval this week.

On Wednesday the group also advised in a stock exchange release that the Supreme Court of Victoria has approved the merger, and that Tatts has confirmed that the Court orders have been lodged with ASIC and the Scheme is now effective and set to be implemented on Friday 22 December 2017.

“The combination [of Tatts and Tabcorp] creates a world-class, diversified gambling entertainment group, with a large national footprint and a diverse suite of product offerings across wagering, media, lotteries, Keno and gaming services,” Tabcorp claims.

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