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The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) warned athletes competing at the 2012 London Games on Saturday that if they engage in illegal betting or gambling they will be thrown off of the Australian team. AOC president John Coates said that anyone caught engaging in such activities will be "named and shamed" and stated that new restrictions will be put into its team membership agreement.
"If the AOC team membership agreements do not already make it clear that being involved in betting or gambling on the games or providing inside information is conduct we will not tolerate, they will now," Coates said.
Match-fixing and suspicious betting has become increasingly problematic in the sports. The International Olympic Committee announced in March that they would be creating a task force to coordinate the fight against the underground gambling industry, which is estimated to be worth $140 billion a year. Coates said that he has been lobbying heavily to establish a similar organization nationally within Australia. He said that he believes federal legislation should give authorities the power to record the names of offending athletes, officials and clubs, tap phones and seize information related to illegal sports gambling that isn't protected by privacy legislation.
Australian legislatures have become increasingly conservative in regards to gambling as of late. Considering all the drama that has been going on with pokies this news shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone.
As always, stay tuned to Casinofan for more news and updates.
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