too late the horse has bolted
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...t/news-story/067efa7c3532cca4e2951ff56f42f8bd
Police warn NRL referees about organised crime threat
The NRL’s desire to ward off the threat of match fixing has prompted the game’s governing body to ask NSW Police to warn match officials about the dangers of becoming involved with organised crime.
The Australian can reveal officials from NSW Police yesterday spoke to the referees, part of a game-wide presentation designed to combat the scourge of match fixing. It is understood as part of their presentation, police spoke about German referee Robert Hoyzer, who was sent to prison in 2015 for two years for fixing matches. Several other referees were also involved in that scandal, having become involved with a Croatian gambling syndicate.
There has been no suggestion match officials in rugby league or any other sport in this country have been lured into the same trap, but the NRL has taken a vigilant approach in the wake of the erroneous match-fixing claims surrounding two Manly games in 2016.
Those claims ultimately had no substance, but NSW Police have been presenting to clubs and chief executives in the aftermath of that investigation. It is understood all but two clubs — North Queensland and the Warriors — have received the presentation.
Yesterday it was the turn of the match officials.
“The referees can be subject to human frailties as well because they are in the box seat to control a game,” detective inspector Wayne Walpole said. “Throughout Europe, especially Eastern Europe, it is pretty prevalent. Australian sport is in pretty good shape. I am not lecturing them or telling them how to live.
“Many of them are family people and fathers. I tell them straight up I am not an academic, I am not an educator, I am a police officer.
“I show them what can happen and what can go wrong. As I said to these guys, they are not playing football in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. They are playing football in 2018 when everyone has a camera and people are interested in them. If they are a butcher, banker or sparky no one cares what they are doing. If you are a first-grade football player, you are going to get noticed.
“When they’re out and about, unfortunately they’re going to be scrutinised because of who they are. If they don’t like that scrutiny, they can go and pack shelves in a supermarket.”
Germany is not the only country to experience scandals involving its match officials. South Africa, Italy and Brazil have all been afflicted by scandals involving football referees.
Major tournaments including the FIFA World Cup have also been subject to scandals involving the whistleblowers. Australia has been immune thus far but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
Walpole, who was a key player in the match-fixing investigation in the NRL, has been presenting to clubs and chief executives since late last year, warning players and officials that they risk losing everything if they mix with the wrong crowd and fall into debt with the wrong people.
“I also spoke about gambling debts and the amount of gambling that goes on in sport these days,” Walpole said.
“They’re human so they have human frailties. Those frailties can be drugs, blackmail, gambling debts. Some of these gambling debts aren’t to the ANZ Bank or banking institutions. They are to organised-crime figures who want their money and don’t care how you get it.
“Throughout several investigations over the last two years we have certainly seen quite a number of NRL players with significant gambling debts. Now that makes them vulnerable.
“I finish off by telling these guys they have a rare licence. They can play professional sport and make good money out of it.
“They want to protect that licence because if they get caught they lose that licence to do what they love.”
