Will Gamblers Effected By “Fixed” Events Receive Compensation?
Over the last few months it seems that each days has brought us a new betting scandal, rumours of match fixing and general bad news for many sports, and the betting industry. Despite the fact that millions of pounds has been poured into the surveillance side of the industry, and many would be “fixers” have been named and shamed, the cases appear to be very difficult to prove in court. So who will pay for money lost on “fixed” events?
The gambling industry as a whole, and in particular the sports betting inside, has done much to put their house in order of late but it just does not seem to be happening. However, if as seems likely at some stage one of the high profile court cases is proven, what will happen to bets wagered on the events in question? Will the average gambler receive compensation? Will they have recourse back to the courts? Who really is liable?
As this moment in time the industry and authorities seem to be concentrating on trying to secure a whole range of convictions, but at some stage the subject of compensation will be mentioned. It just takes one gambler to take the issue to court and it could potentially blow open the whole gambling industry. We could literally be talking about billions of dollars of money which has been taken on “fixed” events, and while the gambling sites and bookmakers were unaware of this, they would surely be the first port of call for any disgruntled gambler.
If such a compensation claim did go to court, there is no historic ruling to compare the situation to and it is unclear how the authorities would react. Would they take the side of the customer? Would they take the side of the bookmaker? Or would they even pursue the authorities running the sports in question?
At some stage the blame game is sure to kick-in, and it will be interesting to see in which direction it moves!