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NSW Organised Crime Squad Investigating alleged NRL Match-Fixing

Canard

Immortal
Messages
34,147
Seriously? Can you bet on Jnr games?

A teenage rugby league player was reportedly offered $500 by a father from the opposing side to fake an injury and miss a preliminary final in NSW's Illawarra region last weekend.

In another match-fixing controversy, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that the NRL's integrity unit has been called in to investigate the claims.

The boy's team, the Wollongong Collegians, lost the sudden-death final to the Western Suburbs Red Devils who will play in this weekend's grand final.

http://www.sportsfan.com.au/match-f...or-league/tabid/91/newsid/210444/default.aspx

I doubt there is a legal betting market.

Seems more like a rich Dad trying to "help" his son.
 

myrrh ken

First Grade
Messages
9,817
Weird to be holding a press conference for no reason at all. And if its convened by Max Markson, its almost guilt by association.
 

myrrh ken

First Grade
Messages
9,817
I thought Rule 1 is to shut it and let it blow over. Usually its along the lines of "As its subject to a police investigation, I cannot comment".

Getting on the front foot is just bringing attention to yourself.
 

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...r/news-story/c33dbd7676d3408dffd469a10f8c7816

Matai defamation result

RETIRING Manly centre Steve Matai has settled a defamation payout of almost $50,000 from Channel 7 over a report last year that wrongly stated he had his mobile phone confiscated by federal police as part of match-fixing investigations. The network also had to pay Matai’s legal costs.
 

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
pigs looking for a headline as per usual
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/4e6d706b140533b3f093b5b275c39f92

Manly Sea Eagles chairman Scott Penn wants apology after match-fixing allegations stalemate
EXCLUSIVE, Dean Ritchie and Mark Morri, The Daily Telegraph
March 1, 2017 6:05pm

MANLY chairman Scott Penn has demanded his tarnished club be officially exonerated by police after match-fixing allegations against the Sea Eagles reached a stalemate.

The Daily Telegraph understands there is insufficient evidence to proceed with any criminal charges against Manly personnel for alleged match-fixing allegations during two games in 2015.

The Sea Eagles remain furious the club’s brand — and push for new sponsors — has been damaged during the controversial seven-month investigation.

The NSW Organised Crime Squad has been investigating Manly’s round 24 match against Parramatta and a round 16 game against Souths. The Sea Eagles lost both games.

It is expected the investigation will continue for the next four to six weeks as police exhaust every avenue of inquiry before announcing their findings.

“Proving match-fixing beyond a reasonable doubt is extremely difficult,’’ said a NSW police source.

“The fact it is still going is an indication that they want to make sure there is no suggestion that the allegations were not thoroughly investigated.”

Officially police will not comment on the likelihood of charges being laid, saying the matter was still active although it is known from the original investigation there were money trail irregularities which police are still pursuing.

Privately, players have banded together and spoken about possible legal action.

Penn said his club and fans deserved to be officially cleared by police.

“Something official would be prudent,” the club’s owner told The Daily Telegraph. “Coming out and saying the club has been investigated and there are no charges, no further action to be taken. That’s important for closure.

“The brand of this club has been unfairly tarnished without an opportunity to defend ourselves. We certainly had a very difficult year last year under these circumstances.

“We just want the matter resolved. That is what we have wanted all along. If there is something new, then let’s bring it out. If there isn’t anything there, let’s acknowledge there is nothing there and move on for our sponsors, members and key stakeholders, so they have comfort that we have nothing to worry about.”

From the outset of the investigation, Manly have taken a “put up or shut-up” stance.

“From our point of view, it has been an incredibly disappointing situation where there was limited transparency for the club,” Penn said.

“We were always fully co-operative and ready to engage with the authorities but that opportunity never arose. We just need to put the matter to rest now. It’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about moving on.”

Penn said he knew of no player, nor official, who was formally interviewed.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Penn said. “My understanding of the process is that anyone who was interviewed had to sign very strict confidentiality deeds which would preclude them from saying anything.

“I certainly wasn’t interviewed, and to the best of my knowledge, none of my management team was either. I don’t want to dwell on this. We have some great momentum heading into the 2017 season and some fantastic new sponsors on board. We have put it in the past.”

An NRL spokesman added: “It’s a police inquiry and we will co-operate with authorities.”

Manly’s focus is on the round one match against archrivals Parramatta on Sunday at Brookvale.
 

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...n/news-story/14815d4877c2a8698ca13b0ffa00d745

Police to scrap match fixing investigation

  • The Australian
  • 12:00AM October 2, 2017
  • Brent Read

    8a2fbfa2e92a609cfd30a16a25de7e5a
One of the NRL’s longest-running sagas is set to end within weeks as NSW Police prepare to close the book on the match-fixing investigation.

The Australian understands NSW Police are likely to formally announce the end of the investigation without any charges being laid, removing at least one of the dark clouds hanging over the NRL and Sydney club Manly since last season.

At least two Sea Eagles games were at the centre of the investigation, which began amid what now appear to be erroneous claims that as many as six players had been paid $50,000 apiece to manipulate the outcome of the matches.

One of those was Manly’s game against South Sydney in June 2015, while the other was the club’s loss to Parramatta in August that year. However, it is understood NSW Police have uncovered no evidence of match fixing and charges will not be laid against any rugby league players,

Police set up Strike Force Nuralda to deal with the allegations, using the coercive powers of the NSW Crime Commission to carry out a wide-ranging and extensive investigation. It is understood players and officials were interviewed but the matter is now on the verge of being closed, with an announcement pending.

The news will be welcomed by Manly, who had to deal with damaging suggestions that some of their games were the subject of match fixing. The club conducted its own internal review, appointing former NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy to conduct a sweeping analysis of their own integrity measures.

It is understood a spin-off from that investigation prompted the current NRL inquiries into allegations of salary cap irregularities at the club. That investigation is continuing, although the Sea Eagles have strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

The Sea Eagles managed to overcome the murky speculation to qualify for the finals series under coach Trent Barrett, although their premiership campaign came to a rapid end when they were bundled out by Penrith.
 
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3,070
And a massive thank you to Todd for all your unwavering support shown to the Manly club throughout the whole drawn out elongated process.
 

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...atchfixing-investigation-20171030-gzauqf.html

NRL privately seething with NSW Police over match-fixing investigation

If a diplomat is someone who thinks twice before saying nothing, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg demonstrated he was half a diplomat when the NSW Police issued a press release last Friday announcing its findings from a prolonged investigation into match-fixing.

Greenberg thought twice, but did say something: he would have preferred the police not choose the day of the first game of rugby league's World Cup to reveal there was ample evidence footballers gambled, used cocaine and visited prostitutes, while also conceding no one would be charged with match-fixing.

The NRL are keen to develop a working relationship with NSW Police but top officials are privately seething at what appears to be deliberate and sustained attempts to rain on rugby league parades.

The investigation into match-fixing started in a bizarre way. The police issued the following release on June 2, 2016: "The Organised Crime Squad is in the early stages of examining information relating to alleged match-fixing in the NRL. No further comment is appropriate at this stage."

So, the day following the series-opening State of Origin match, in which Queensland defeated NSW 6-4 at ANZ stadium in front of 80,000 people, the police believed it was necessary to disclose they were "examining information".

Why would it do this? Perhaps there were some operational reasons why it would announce the beginning of an examination into information regarding unusual betting patterns at three NRL games, detail provided to them by the NRL. Nevertheless, it was a departure from standard protocol and had a damaging impact on last year's Origin series.

In September last year, during the NRL semi-finals, the police upgraded the examination to an "investigation" and formed Strike Force Nuralda.

Around the same time, gambler and friend of footballers, Eddie Hayson, convened his own press conference. The silly season had arrived early.

The NSW Crime Commission became involved in the investigation. It's reasonable to speculate that some of the information the police have in relation to spot-fixing and point-shaving was obtained during those hearings, which are conducted under the Crime Commission's coercive powers. They cannot be used in evidence in a criminal trial and cannot be distributed outside the commission and police.

When the police said it had information in relation to spot-fixing and point-shaving but weren't prosecuting, it was probably because it couldn't. If this is correct, it's hardly from the police handbook to then leak this information as background to various press outlets, rather than exclusively share it with the NRL which sparked the investigation by alerting them to the unusual betting patterns.

The police showed its hand in the press release last Friday. The extent of the investigation – the number of interviews, breadth of use of telephone intercepts, analysis of betting and other records – has been massive. And it came up with nothing.

Perhaps, internally there was heat on the police to justify why such extensive resources were directed towards an investigation such as this, including the use of the NSW Crime Commission. A simple release saying it found nothing was never going to cut it. Instead, the message from the police was that footballers use alcohol and cocaine, gamble and visit prostitutes, and the NRL needs to fix it but the constabulary can't charge anyone.

An alternate headline, "Police investigation reveals young men on big salaries drink alcohol, use drugs, gamble and occasionally visit prostitutes", is hardly breaking news.

It would be hypocritical of me not to say the media, including my own paper, swallowed the police bait, running front-page stories of the gambling, drugs and use of prostitutes, while downplaying the news that police found no evidence of match-fixing.

The saga is akin to a childish game of cops and robbers where the "baddies" have won.

Consider the quotes from Hayson early in the investigation: "We all laugh about it" and "the cops got sold a big lemon".

He denied fixing matches and predicted the investigation would end up with police having "egg on their face".

With the NRL's collective bargaining agreement with the rugby league players association concluding on Tuesday, it's no surprise Greenberg is seeking access to players' bank and mobile phone records in order to probe integrity issues without relying upon the police.

The integrity unit would be funded by rights fees from betting agencies, with investigations made public, only at their end and never on NRL grand final day.
 
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