Thursday, February 22, 2007

Following the gambling scandal, where AFL players were found gambling on
other AFL matches, government regulated territory corporations (TAB) were
instructed to hand over access to gambling accounts to investigators. TAB in
Victoria and New South Wales did release information to assist the the
investigation of the football gambling of Goodwin, Melbourne defender Daniel
Ward, Kangaroos ruckman David Hale and Sydney rookie Kieren Jack. However,
the SA TAB will not hand access to its accounts to the AFL investigators. SA
TAB general manager Grant Harrison said his agency, in contrast to the TAB
in Victoria and New South Wales, did not have an agreement with the AFL
sanctioning an audit of its account holders. Its privacy policy would not be
compromised for the AFL, Mr Harrison said. "Our policy, at this moment, is
not to disclose details of our accounts unless we are served a court order
or a legal notice to produce," he said. "We will disclose to the police and
to the Australian Tax Office, but not to the AFL." With the SA TAB blocking
the AFL audit of Crows and Power players, case investigators may have a
greater curiosity on whether Goodwin's football bets with Betfair last year
were his alone or part of a syndicate involving current and former Crows
teammates. Rugby league legend Garry Jack says his son Keiren (AFL Syndey)
is shattered after being linked to an investigation into illegal gambling
after making two bets totalling $10 on the internet. The league has made it
clear that wants to broaden its audit into other states.