The Ohio Casino Control Commission has issued an emergency order placing an immediate ban on sports betting related to Alabama baseball games after it was reported there were suspicious gambling activities being propagated.

This was instigated following a report from “certified independent integrity monitors”. Subsequently Ohio’s most influential gambling regulator was forced to bar licensed sportsbooks from accepting bets on Alabama baseball games.

This was an internal communication which was obtained by The Associated Press, so it is not immediately clear whether the other 33 states where sports betting is legal that similar orders have been applied.

A relevant incident had already been reported by Las Vegas based US Integrity, who monitor data regarding a multitude of factors across the sports’ industry, sending out an alert warning to sportsbooks of “suspicious wagering activity” involving a match between Alabama-LSU.

Alerts of this nature occur when there are instances such as huge moves in the odds, particularly when one team is predicted to greatly outperform the other.

According to a California attorney, Baird Fogel, this particular game displayed such shifts in odds. When after a significant change in odds the perceived inferior team made a huge run.

He would digress to make a point of great importance when dealing with cases involving sports betting.

This could all be conjecture, it could all be a coincidence. That’s the wonder of sports betting. Sometimes weird things happen.

Match fixing is a multifaceted issue, perpetuated by and affecting many different aspects of the betting and sports industries. A veritable umbrella term, it can be highlighted in numerous different ways such as bribes, manipulated scores, intentional errors and bogus penalties.

This leads to great uncertainty within these fields and even further confusion when it comes to regulation and penalisation. What can be certain is that major sport and the related sports betting are economically significant sectors with the most important aspect historically, culturally and intrinsically is outcome.

Making sure the outcome of matches are not tampered with is of paramount importance. This is where the integrity of competition stems, from playing on a fair field, affecting the fans’ relationships with their teams and the leagues they play in. Jeopardising this whether in perception or in actual fact would spell disastrous chaos for all involved.

So a precautionary stance is understandable, however, it is important that legislation and regulation find a definitive way to both support the sports betting industry both online and in person, as well as secure without doubt the sporting integrity of their competitions.

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