Bob Mackin
The federal commission that investigated abuse and corruption in Canada’s sport system said sports gambling is a double-edged sword.
The Future of Sport in Canada Commission, under former Ontario chief justice Lise Maisonneuve, mentioned the scourge of match-fixing and opportunities for revenue from the burgeoning sports gambling industry in its March 24 final report.
Dollars and sense
While provincial lottery corporations have routinely granted profits to amateur sports for years, the report suggested a new tax on 2021-legalized single-event wagering could be directed to fill funding gaps.
Maisonneuve’s report said there are many opinions about the value and ethics of earmarking gambling money to sport and physical activity.
“Some we spoke to had concerns about the addictive nature of lotteries and betting, and the financial and mental health impact of those activities,” the report said. “Given that governments have chosen to legalize gambling and lotteries, others felt that the tax proceeds derived from such activities could be dedicated to supporting healthy lifestyle programs such as sport and physical activity programming.”
Match-fixing was red-flagged as a serious threat to sport, because of links to organized crime and direct threats to athlete safety.
“Competition manipulation occurs when a party known as the ‘fixer’ compromises a player, an official, a coach, or other staff by influencing their behaviour. Such influence can take the form of monetary bribes and intimidation, including threats of physical harm, and often seeks to exploit the weaknesses of the targeted person. Fear of exposure by the ‘fixer’ further increases vulnerability to abuse in many forms.”
Woe Canada
Canada is no stranger to sports gambling scandals, such as soccer’s 1986 Merlion Cup in Singapore, where four Canadian men’s national team players were implicated in a match-fixing scheme.
The Canadian Soccer League was sanctioned after a 2012 scandal. In 2013, Vancouver tennis player Rebecca Marino blamed cyberbullying by gamblers as a reason for her retirement from the professional tennis tour. She made a comeback five years later.
The Canadian Football League suspended Montreal Alouette Shawn Lemon in 2024 for betting on games while he played for the Calgary Stampeders in 2021.
What they said
Andrew Pipe, a special advisor to Maisonneuve, said the commission would have done a deeper dive on sports gambling, but for time constraints and the terms of reference.
“We identified [it] as a very pressing problem that needs careful examination and thought in the future,” said Pipe, founding chair of Canada’s anti-doping agency and former Commonwealth Games Association of Canada president.
Amelia Cline, co-founder of Athletes Empowered, told theBreaker.news that sports gambling needs its own dedicated study.
“It’s something that seemingly has exploded in the last few years and taken off in a way that’s quite alarming,” Cline said. “I think there are valid concerns about whether we should be encouraging sports betting, especially when we’re using sports stars to promote sports betting.”
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