Australia’s professional spots bodies want the government to relax its prohibition of online in-play betting in order to preserve the integrity of their product.

Australia is currently conducting a review of its 2001 Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) with a particular focus on how to combat the alleged negative effects of international online gambling sites offering services to Aussie punters. Part of these sites’ appeal is their ability to offer in-play sports wagers, which the IGA restricts to telephone or retail wagering outlets.

In a submission to the government panel tasked with reviewing the IGA, the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) – whose seven members include the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia and the National Rugby League – says the IGA’s “anachronistic” in-play restrictions have created an “integrity blind spot” in which match-fixers can run wild.

According to The Australian, COMPPS’s submission claims that in-play shenanigans would be far easier to spot if Australian-licensed online operators were doing the spotting. The current situation “poses a relatively higher risk” to match integrity than COMPPS believes would exist if Aussie operators could control some of the betting action currently headed outside the country.