Five basketball players banned after gambling operators aid match-fixing probe
The Gambling Commission’s Sport Betting Intelligence Unit took part in investigations led by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the British Basketball Federation (BBF).
UK.- Five British basketball players have been banned from the sport following probes that involved the participation of the Gambling Commission’s Sport Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU). Led by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the British Basketball Federation (BBF), investigations found match-fixing and regulatory breaches in the former British Basketball League (BBL).
The investigations, which received input from British betting operators, identified at least six compromised matches in the 2022 – 2023 season. Five former players of the Surrey Scorchers were found to have manipulated match outcomes and to have failed to report corrupt activity. They have received fines and sanctions ranging from 10-year bans to lifetime suspensions.
Quincy Taylor and Charleston Dobbs received lifetime bans and fines from the BBG, which have been extended globally by FIBA. Shakem Johnston, Padiet Wang and Joshua McFolley were also sanctioned by FIBA with suspensions.
Another player, Dean Wanliss, was fined and suspended for three years for betting on basketball matches between 2019-2021. This investigation was led by the BFF with FIBA, the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) and the International Olympic Committee Monitoring Unit.
The Gambling Commission said the case underscored its commitment to maintaining integrity in sport and enforcing a zero-tolerance policy toward betting-related corruption.
Meanwhile, fifteen people including several former Conservative politicians have appeared in court charged with cheating at gambling following the Gambling Commission investigation into betting on the date of last year’s British general election.
Those charged, include Craig Williams, the former MP for Montgomeryshire and parliamentary private secretary to then prime minister Rishi Sunak, along with Russell George, who currently represents Montgomeryshire in the Welsh Senedd now as an independent after being suspended from the Conservatives, and Thomas James, the former director of the Welsh Conservatives who was also suspended from the party.
At Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday. George, James and ten others indicated that they would plead not guilty. Williams, who has also been charged with three counts of enabling or assisting others to cheat as well as cheating himself, did not indicate how he would plead. Neither did Jacob Wilmer, a former government special adviser from Richmond, West London, or Jeremy Hunt, an ex-police officer from Surrey who was part of Sunak’s Metropolitan police close protection unit.
All defendants were released on unconditional bail pending a preliminary hearing at Southwark Crown Court on July 11.
