Special police unit to take down olympic event fixing

The British Metropolitan Police have launched a dedicated special unit targeting illegal betting scams and event-fixing at the 2012 London Olympics, the first ever in the history of the competition.

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson stated that the fixing of games has surpassed that of doping and poses the biggest threat to the reputation of what has come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sporting event where more than 200 nations participate.

“You cannot underestimate the threat this poses because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing falls to pieces,” Robertson said.

The Metropolitan Police-led unit will work in conjunction with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Interpol to track suspicious gambling activity abroad.

Another special unit created by the International Olympic Committee will be on the look out for unusually large wagers placed on events or competitors by monitoring the international betting market.

Robertson believes Western authorities are on top of identifying and stamping out illegal betting activities but that the Far East and Indian authorities were lacking in the regulation of the practice reported the Daily Mail.

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