NZ: Illegal sports betting returns to stadiums

“Courtsiders” were caught on the sidelines at New Zealand events giving point by point information to illegal offshore bookmakers in Asia.

New Zealand.- Three incidents of illegal sports betting activity have been reported since the New Zealand government allowed spectators to return to sports stadiums.

Gambling Insider reported that “courtsiders” working for illegal bookmakers were caught relaying information to bookmakers in Asia about an ongoing ANZ Premiership game from the Auckland Netball Centre.

Kate Agnew, head of events for Netball New Zealand said such activity had been expected as netball was one of the few live sports events allowing spectators into stadiums during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Passing point by point information about a live event from the sidelines is not a crime in New Zealand, but the information has been passed to authorities to investigate if it is related to illegal activities.