A non-professional football player from New Zealand’s Central League has faced a provisional suspension for allegedly violating the country’s sports betting regulations.
So far, neither the TAB nor New Zealand Football (NZF) have revealed the identity of the player, his club, or the betting amounts involved, due to the fact that the matter is still under investigation. In case the amateur club footballer is found to have actually violated the gambling rules of the Central League of New Zealand, they could face a suspension from being involved in the NZF competitions for up to two years.
New Zealand’s Central League is an amateur club competition that involves 10 teams from the lower half of the North Island. The top teams from the Central, Northern and South Island leagues then participate in the National League.
New Zealand Football has confirmed that the player will remain provisionally banned for the time of the investigation until the probe faced by the player is concluded into the alleged breach. According to an official statement of the NZF, the player’s activity had been unveiled as part of the integrity programme of the organisation and information-sharing deal with TAB NZ. Under the existing rules, all players in the NZF’s National League are required to complete mandatory integrity training and are not allowed to place bets on the competition.
Players from NZ Football Leagues Not Allowed to Bet on National League Competitions
For the time being, TAB NZ said that it is unable to comment on the specific case because the probe is still ongoing but confirmed that it recently started taking bets on the Central League. The company shared that it had traditionally offered to wager on the National League and on some Chatham Cup fixtures. TAB NZ explained that it had recently provided some markets for the Central, Northern and Southern football Leagues where there was enough information about the league itself and the fixtures that are held as part of it.
The gambling operator revealed in a statement that it had started taking bets on the aforementioned competitions as part of an effort to increase the financial returns to national sporting organisations, including New Zealand Football, and at the same time providing its customers with a regulated betting environment.
The company further shared that the relationships and exchange of information between the gambling operator and the national sporting organisations meant a more adequate oversight of betting on New Zealand sports, as opposed to offshore betting operators that do not necessarily share such information and details with the national sporting organisations as part of information-sharing partnerships. According to the TAB NZ’s statement, the provision of specialised betting information to national sporting organisations helped maintain the integrity of the sports competitions in the country.
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Daniel Williams
