A number of top sporting bodies in the United Kingdom have expressed their
concern that an exodus of leading sports betting operators to offshore havens
could have a negative impact on their attempts to fight corruption.
Groups such as the Football Association and the Premier League have called on
the government to convene with them to discuss the latest news that William
Hill is leaving the UK for Gibraltar, and potentially opening the door for
other companies such as Coral and Ladbrokes to follow suit.
The groups believe that once these sports betting operators are off British
soil, they will not be obligated to comply with local gambling rules that
require them to share information in the case of corruption or suspected
corruption during sporting events.
The current UK Gambling Act demands that sports betting groups use top of the
range tools to detect any suspicious wagering patterns and report them
immediately to the authorities.
This act has brought about a significant number of suspensions due to match
corruption, but the sporting groups emphasize that this was only possible
because of the cooperation of groups based in the United Kingdom.
There has been almost no cooperation with groups based outside the UK.
"William Hill's move takes one of the UK's biggest betting operators outside
the remit of the UK's licensing regime, including the information sharing
requirements we campaigned for," said the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC).
"It is a worrying development and we will be seeking an urgent meeting with
Gerry Sutcliffe to discuss the effects this will have."
William Hill confirmed the move of its online betting division to Gibraltar
on Tuesday in a bid to avoid the UK's high taxation.
