Published Sunday, March 28, 2010 – Online-Casinos.com
Italy has become a booming market for online gambling operators in the newly regulated situation there. There is a crack in the golden egg it seems with the usual corruption problems surfacing and being dealt with swiftly. Investigators that are on watch for just such problems will be paying close attention to four particular matches in Italy’s Serie B after betting was suspended by many bookmakers recently on two games after rumours of fixed draws surfaced while betting on two more matches is being closely monitored after abnormal activity. Serie B is the name of the second highest football league in Italy consisting of 22 teams. The championship is often called the cadetti, which means ‘juniors’ or ‘cadets’ or campionato cadetto. It is organized by Lega Calcio, as the major tournament. The governing body Uefa is already very involved in the attempted elimination of a Croatia-based, pan-European match-fixing ring that could have links to Asia. Recently that investigation led to 46 arrests in Turkey including the arrests of players and coaches, 45 of whom are being intensely questioned about their activities. Modena vs Piacenza and Triestina vs Padova, are the two scheduled games that bets have been suspended after “irregular” weights of money on the draw in each case. The online exchange Betfair is continuing to trade, on the games with it’s policy being that it is completely transparent about it’s betting information. Betting on Serie B games is at best minimal normally. Betfair is reporting huge sums being wagered almost £100,000 on the Modena vs Piacenza game. Some sources say this is a normal, “It’s just the normal Italian end-of-season stuff. Everyone knows it’s always happened, results that suit both sides in certain situations.” The fear that Asian influences are being felt in European football is the major concern for regulators and investigators adding a sinister aspect to the situation. Asian match-fixers have eroded the integrity of many of the football leagues in that continent.
