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Aussie
Rules
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Media Release
Betfair has again written to the Chief Executive of the Australian Racing Board, Mr Andrew Harding, re-stating Betfair's desire to agree on the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would enable Betfair to provide betting data to the ARB in order to enhance its capacity to ensure the integrity of racing. Such an MoU would largely reflect the existing arrangements that Betfair now has with Cricket Australia, the ATP (tennis), UEFA (soccer) and the International Cricket Council. With a betting data MoU in place, Betfair has never refused to make available information under these agreements. In the absence of an MoU, Betfair is legally prevented from passing information on. Betfair has also written in similar terms to peak sporting bodies in Australia such as the: Australian Football League Australian Rugby Union, Tennis Australia National Rugby League. This follows yesterdays communication to them expressing a desire to strike an agreement for appropriate compensation for betting that takes place on their sports.
Andrew Harding, Esq. Chief Executive Australian Racing Board PO Box 159 Kensington NSW 1465 24th June 2004 Dear Andrew In the context of the current debate surrounding exchanges, I want to reiterate to you in writing something we have discussed many times: our desire to fully assist Australian Racing in any investigation into corruption that it may wish to conduct. You will be aware from our many previous conversations that we are prevented by Australia’s Privacy Act and Britain’s Data Protection Act from giving named information relating to our clients to any third party, unless we have a written agreement with the organisation to which we are giving it. This is why we currently only give anonymous information when we present your stewards with spreadsheets of betting patterns upon request. The Memorandum of Understanding that we have drawn up is the agreement that allows us to give that information on a named basis. It brings into play a privacy waiver signed by all our clients as part of our terms and conditions, under which they agree for us to give up their information to a named party and thereby seeks to eliminate the risks of a legal objection to the sharing of such information which would otherwise exist under UK and Australian law. As I think you know, we have MOUs with sports bodies all over the world, including the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom, and Cricket Australia here. You are also, I believe, aware that we have received numerous requests under this agreement and have never refused to comply. Indeed we would never do so unless there were overwhelming reasons to suspect the bona fides of the authority requesting the information such that the rights to punter privacy overrode the benefits of disclosure. The wording within the document that allows us to reject a request is simply a clause insisted on by privacy rights lawyers to ensure against the possibility of our being required to hand over information even where the relevant authority has no credible grounds for suspicion but is merely on a ‘fishing expedition’. The MOU has served extremely well in enabling us to help sports be fully aware of betting that takes place on their product. It is in no way an endorsement of us by you (or the other way around, in fact), and it is in no way commercially binding. It is simply a tool for you which allows you access to an unprecedented level of information on betting on Australian racing. It is an extremely successful means of helping sport, and is what led the man responsible for the integrity of British racing, Jockey Club Director of Security Paul Scotney, to tell the Times earlier this year that ‘exchanges can be a huge positive in allowing me to get at the corruptors.” I would urge you once again to encourage your board to sign an MOU with Betfair immediately, which would, in my view, be in the interests of everyone who has racing’s best interests at heart. Yours sincerely, Mark Davies
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