I understand why you would not want athletes to throw games on purpose if they place a large bet for the opposing team to win, however let’s say I am a pitcher in baseball, and I place a bet for my own team to win, wouldn’t that only motivate me to play better because I stand to win more money by doing so?
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In the 1990’s an English soccer team Wimbledon kicked off a game by smashing the ball straight out of play. The players then did something odd, they were seen to be happy about this and even the manager had a smile on his face.
In soccer because games are generally low scoring bookies would offer odds (over/under) on things like “time of first corner kick or throw in”. After an investigation it was found that the Wimbledon players and manager had put large sums of money on the under for the time of first throw in.
At the time the only rule was against betting on your own team to lose so they weren’t actually charged with anything but the laws were changed and now any soccer player that gambles on anything to do with their own team is immediately banned from the sport.
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