CoreSportgib
Football
4th February 2016
Lynx speak out
against betting
companies
A
s football in Gibraltar
turns pro a new phenomenon is suddenly
emerging which has
seen different reactions
from within the football
world, the new phenomenon is called betting. On a Friday
night a young east European enters the
stadium, casually dressed, friendly in
manner, seats by the area which is for
the VIPs, but which is frequently used
by everyday fans as it has the best
cover from the elements during normal
weekly league matches.
A quietly spoken male, who seems to
know some of the managers and players, but whose only focus once the
game starts, is on delivering the data
from the match. Speaking to him you
soon find out, as he is quite open about
it that he is the regional representative
for some betting company dealing in
sport. His main region is the Malaga
province where he covers events such
as the Spanish basketball league, or
even the Primera Liga. His main tool is
his mobile phone, which he is constantly on during the ninety minutes.
Ask him anything on the match and he
will know, most of the time his predictions of how a match will end seem
pretty accurate, except when teams put
more than ten past the other which
leaves him a bit speechless. He is but
one of the many people now found attending first division matches, and the
numbers will soon grow as the betting
industry recruits, for £50 per match, representatives willing to sit through
matches and provide them with timely
updates, scores and data.
There is nothing illegal about the activity; however, it is a clear indicator of the
changing world football is living. Whilst
teams struggle to pay their players, and
clubs try to find new sources to fund
their attempts to reach the elite status of
becoming a professional outfit, from
decades in the amateur sphere, there is
an industry which profits from the very
existence of a "professional" league in
Gibraltar. Already last year The Gibraltar
Football Association took steps to warn
and educate teams and associated organisations of the risks faced by Gibraltar football if it were to ignore the
potential for corruption and the pitfalls
from not keeping tabs on the unscrupulous side of the betting industry. None of
click here to see full gallery collection in our website