The Asian Racing Federation (ARF) announced today that Dr. Sally Gainsbury, Director of the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic and Associate Professor of the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney, and Dr. Catherine Ordway, Assistant Professor in Sports Management at the University of Canberra, have agreed to join the Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-Illegal Betting & Related Financial Crime.
Dr. Sally Gainsbury is a leader and expert in gambling psychology and responsible gambling strategies aiming to reduce and prevent gambling-related harms. She has been invited to give over 90 keynote and conference presentations and has published over 110 peer-review journal articles on issues related to disordered gambling, behavioural addictions, youth gambling, the influence of emerging technologies on gambling, and responsible gambling strategies. Sally is also the Editor of the International Gambling Studies Journal and serves on the Editorial Board for Psychology of Addictive Behaviors and Gaming Law Review. Her recent publications include:
• Problematic risk-taking involving emerging technologies: a stakeholder framework to minimize harms
Dr. Catherine Ordway is an international expert in the field of sport integrity and a sport lawyer who sits on the International Sports Law Journal Editorial Board and an expert contributor to the Australian Sports Commission Clearinghouse. As she is an international expert in sport integrity and has specialised in anti-doping policy for twenty years, she has consulted on projects including the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Bid, the Budapest 2024Olympic Games Bid, and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Catherine is also a member of the UNODC Anti-Corruption Academics Initiative and the Education for Justice expert group. She has published on sports integrity, governance, and gender equality issues. Her recent project and publications include:
• Restoring trust in sport: corruption cases and solutions
• Police and investigative cooperation on match-fixing: an Australian experience
With the addition of Dr. Sally Gainsbury and Dr. Catherine Ordway, the Council now comprises 15 experts in sports and racing integrity, law enforcement, academic study of gambling and sports, and intergovernmental relations.
Dr. Sally Gainsbury said: “It is a pleasure to join this esteemed group and terrific to see a commitment to understanding the social harms that can stem from illegal betting. Gambling problems have a devastating impact on individuals, their families and the broader community and when people bet with illegal operators they often have few protections from harm and tools to assist them in their recovery. All stakeholders, including operators, regulators, and policy makers have a responsibility to act to prevent and reduce gambling harms and I hope to assist the ARF in this regard.”
Dr. Catherine Ordway said: “My research has demonstrated that threats to the integrity of sports can only be tackled through by working collaboratively in multidisciplinary environments. Horse racing and other animal racing enterprises are committed to limiting the influence of illegal gambling and organised criminals, and in combatting other forms of ‘cheating’. Trust in the integrity of both the event itself, and in those involved in bringing that event to life, is crucial to the long-term survival of the industry.”
Martin Purbrick, Chairman of the Council, said: “Dr. Gainsbury brings great insight into gambling psychology and responsible gambling, which we believe will assist us in our study of the negative social impact of illegal betting on horse racing and other sports. Our research in the past years has shown that as illegal betting grows so does the social harm, and we need to better measure as well as report this in relation to the impact of legal betting on society. Sally is the best qualified person to help us to develop this understanding.”
“Dr. Ordway is a leader in the study of integrity in sports. Her latest book (as editor),“Restoring Trust in Sport: Corruption Cases and Solutions”, is a foundational work on the subject. The book is focused on solving the threats challenging sport, and aligns perfectly with the Asian Racing Federation as it recognises that corrupt leadership undermines values and creates an environment of fear and distrust. Catherine lucidly reviews integrity in sport, including a series of case studies of events in sport that have caused a loss of trust at a global scale. The real world examples of major sports losing widespread public trust is a reminder to horse racing of why integrity is essential to the success of the sport. Illegal betting is the major threat to integrity in racing, and we are delighted that Catherine can bring her thought leadership to the Asian Racing Federation.”
Background on the Asian Racing Federation and its ARF Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime:
The Asian Racing Federation (ARF) is a regional federation comprising 29 racing authoritiesand racing-related organisations, with a wide geographic spread from New Zealand to SouthAfrica. Among its core objectives is the promotion of integrity in the sport of horse racing. In2017, the ARF established the Anti-Illegal Betting Taskforce, which now comprises 15members from organisations engaged in racing and sports integrity, law enforcement,intergovernmental agencies, and academia (a full list of members and their organisations isbelow).
In October 2020, the task force was renamed as the Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime, whose purpose is to foster and enhance international cooperation among horse racing operators, regulators, intergovernmental organisations and government agencies in order to better combat the threat of illegal betting and other financial crimes to horse racing integrity in particular, and sport in general. To this end, the Taskforce has produced an internationally syndicated white paper on the scale of illegal betting in Asia and a Handbook “Good Practices in Addressing Illegal Betting” with practical advice to racing and sports organisations to mitigate threats to integrity caused by illegal betting.
Further reading: Illegal Betting in an Asian Context and Good Practices in Addressing Illegal Betting
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