Betting Patterns Monitored in Winter Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that it has taken necessary steps to prevent match fixing during the course of Winter Olympics currently taking place in Canada.
The IOC has installed a unique system that will monitor betting patterns throughout the games, similar to the system used during the 2008 Beijing Games.
The Swiss based International Sports Monitoring will keep an eye on this year's Winter Olympics that kicked off in Vancouver over the weekend.
The group will collect betting data from over 400 sports betting companies and send all unusual information to the International Olympic Committee.
"Illegal betting is as serious a threat as doping," noted that President for the IOC, Jacques Rogge. "It's a very serious concern for the future. Sooner or later it will happen during the games."
It should be noted that no unusual betting patterns were picked up during the Beijing Games.
International Sports Monitoring will also be surveying betting during the 2012 London Olympics.
"As leaders of the Olympic movement, we should recognize and take on the board the fact that betting and match fixing and other forms of corruption rank equally with doping in the sense of destroying or having the potential to destroy the fundamental integrity of sport," said Canadian IOC member, Dick Pound. "It is a very real and growing problem that can affect the future of sport."
In the meantime, sports betting groups are in full swing of the action as punters back their favourite teams and athletes.
Germany is the firm favourite to take the title for the country that wins the most medals during the Winter Olympics, with the United States in second place for favourites.
