The next two FIFA World Cup locations are somewhat uncertain now as major scandals have erupted involves bribes and more.
When you’re dealing with large amounts of money being moved back and forth, there’s a lot of temptation for corruption to come into play. We’re seeing that right now after a FIFA whistle blower came forward and disclosed that major officials took big bribes when choosing the locations for the World Cup in both 1998 and 2010. This could affect the World Cup being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 as a major investigation is underway.
Corruption in Sports, Not Just Betting
This is a good example of the type of corruption that happens in sports at times, but it’s not always in sports betting. This is a big reason why we need certain levels of regulation and oversight instead of just relying on outdated or “hands off” approaches. Canada has a pretty big problem on the legislative side with sports betting right now, as we can see with bill C-290 and the huge debacle that is the current set of laws for sports betting in the country.
The vast majority of sports betting happens on just a single game, match or contest. However, under Canadian law, it’s illegal to bet on just one or two contests. Instead, you have to bet on a parlay of three different contests at the same time for a bet to be legal, and this applies to both online and land-based betting. They’re providing incentives for players to do the exact opposite of what the law says. Bill C-290 would correct this problem, but so far, it hasn’t been successful.
Match Fixing Issues
One of the things about sports betting is that it invites a certain level of match fixing. The idea behind match fixing is that certain players are paid off to influence the outcome of a game, and that allows the people orchestrating the fixing to bet big on the game itself and make a big profit. It’s cheating to a high degree, and some people think that eliminating sports betting will somehow help this problem. As we’ve seen with sports betting in Canada, it doesn’t do anything but drive the betting underground.
When there is a large demand for something, it’s not going to just go away because it’s made illegal. Instead, it goes underground where it’s easier for shady dealings like match fixing to happen. As we’ve seen the need for greater oversight with FIFA World Cup bids, we’re also seeing the same need for greater oversight with sports betting. Bill C-290 passing in Canada would decrease match fixing and give more people who suffer from compulsive gambling issues the help that they need. It’s a win-win all around, but some people can’t seem to see that.
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