Police say they evicted several people from yesterday's opening match of the Cricket World Cup for courtsiding – a practice that manipulates betting outcomes.
While it isn't illegal, it is against the terms and conditions of ticketed entry to all ICC World Cup games and police say it won't be tolerated.
Dunedin is the next stop on the Black Caps' road to the World Cup, and while their win over Sri Lanka should have hogged the headlines today, the issue of courtsiding has been a big talking point.
Sitting in the stands, the roar from the crowd means spectators know when a wicket has fallen a good seven or eight seconds before it unfolds on television.
It's that delay in the broadcast that some patrons tried to take advantage of yesterday.
Police and security were on high alert at Hagley Oval, keeping a watchful eye out for anyone trying to bend the rules.
While two people were arrested for pitch invasion, it was a slightly more subtle form of bad behaviour that also caught police attention.
"We noticed a number of people courtsiding, pitchsiding or cheating – whatever you like to call it," says national commander of Operation Cricket World Cup Superintendent Sandra Manderson.
Whatever else it's called, it's a form of betting manipulation.
People at the game send information about what's happening in front of them to people overseas who then take advantage of the delayed television coverage to place sure bets.
It's not illegal but Supt Manderson says it is against ICC World Cup ticket terms and conditions.
"We are aware of the practice occurring," she says. "We were quite vigilant in looking for them and we picked them up, actually some members of the public also picked them up, on cell phones, on the computers, and reported them to us as well."
She wouldn't be drawn on how many were evicted or just what markets they were sending the information to. But the TAB's Mark Stafford says there's no way the bets were being accepted locally.
"I'm really confident I know it doesn't happen in New Zealand because we've got really stringent things in place on our systems, and if there were any irregular betting patterns identified we go straight to the authorities."
The people evicted from yesterday's match have been banned from all other ICC Cricket World Cup matches.
3 News
source: newshub archive
