22-year old arrested for illegal betting activity at the Australian Open

A 22-year old man, believed to be from the United Kingdom, was arrested yesterday by the Victoria police for ‘courtsiding’.

‘Courtsiding’ is the act of placing bets on the outcomes of different points throughout a match. The man was believed to be taking advantage of a small lag between live action and the broadcast on television.

The suspect was observed by the police throughout the game and was taken into custody from the Melbourne Park premises at around 5:30 pm local time. The man has been granted bail and is scheduled to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 16th January.

Victoria police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit and Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit have stated that they will continue to keep a lookout for similar activities and have warned spectators to think twice about their conduct.

Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said people needed to be aware that this sort of activity was illegal in Victoria.

“Victoria now has specific legislation that covers offences related to cheating at gambling,” Mr Ashton said.

“Offences include engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome, facilitating conduct that could corrupt a betting outcome and use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.

“These offences carry hefty penalties of up to 10 years in prison.

“We will be monitoring matches for the remainder of the tournament, so if you’re thinking of engaging in this kind of behaviour, think again.”