For tennis fans, there’s nothing they’d rather be doing right now than sitting courtside watching Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams during the Australian Open. But one son from the UK was arrested this week for ‘courtsiding’ of a different nature, becoming the first to ever be faced with the emerging crime right here.

The 22-year-old Brit, Daniel Dobson, was arrested after attending a match at the Australian Open on Tuesday afternoon. He had been immediately charged with ‘engaging in conduct that would corrupt a wagering result,’ a description that sounds more like tampering with the match it self than what was truly going on in this situation.

Growing and Nefarious Phenomenon

Courtsiding involves the training of sitting live at a tennis match and watching the function unfold, while simultaneously betting on the outcome, or alerting a third-party via mobile unit in regards to what is going on in real-time so they can do so. In particular, it takes advantageous asset of in-play wagering, and particularly microbetting on the outcomes of individual points and games. Because there is a delay of seconds between when the point is played live when it is broadcast on television, a quick bettor can place bets after they know the end result of a given point but before the bookmaker does; something that could clearly potentially cost bookies many millions of dollars in unfairly garnered payouts.

This is utilized many clearly in betting on who will win confirmed game, as being a bettor who knows that a server is up 40-15 in a game can bet at much better odds than had been set when the score ended up being just 30-15, for example. But even without that kind of instant advantage, courtsiding can be utilized more subtly. A bettor could easily get a bet on a match or set in following a player breaks serve, which would significantly replace the odds within their benefit.

Of course, such wagers violate the integrity of sports betting, as one part has information about the game that the other could not possibly obtain. That’s why their state of Victoria in Australia passed a legislation against the practice last year one that carries a sentence all the way to a decade in prison.

Others Might be Involved

According to police, this arrest was not the result of a isolated incident. Victoria Police deputy commissioner Graham Ashton noted you can find others involved, and police say that the man they arrested was section of a larger gambling syndicate, possibly headquartered in Eastern Europe. Australian media reported that the man was an employee of Sporting Data Limited, a personal activities betting company based in Surrey.

Sporting Data fired right back quickly during the arrest, accusing Victorian authorities of misusing the new law. Dobson showed up at Melbourne Magistrate’s Court toward the end of the week, received bail and will be back in another week to face fees; prosecutors say he used a digital camera in his shorts to transmit the scores before TV delays could be broadcast. Two other unnamed men that are british also being investigated for comparable charges.

But Dobson’s defense attorney, Sazz Nasimi, stated in court that their customer was just sending information to an international sports book to greatly help them set odds throughout the progressing tennis match.

Sporting Data did admit that Dobson among others provided that data which is a known breach at sporting venues that are most these days but justified it by saying none of these employees put any wagers themselves. The business claimed the move was necessary so that it could obtain ‘the many up-to-date information’ and remain competitive in ‘the tightest & most competitive environment there is,’ outlining the cut-throat nature regarding the global activities betting industry these days.

Experts in the integrity of sporting events say that courtsiding is the tactic that is latest employed by the same unlawful groups that have been accused of match repairing in the past. That’s because the scheme tends to be much simpler to pull off, especially in areas where authorities are very much in search of signs of match repairing. For events perhaps not being televised, some fraudsters also have bribed the employees charged with sending score updates to bookmakers in order to create a longer wait.

‘It’s pretty tricky to use and determine it. Very often these individuals use very small devices which they conceal within their clothing, often having special pouches sewn into clothing. Then they’ll simply press on a number of buttons under their clothes. So [it is] very difficult to pick up,’ Ashton said.

While numerous countries lack guidelines particularly outlawing courtsiding, most major sporting tournaments have rules that enable organizers to eject spectators who they believe are engaged in the practice. One nation where it’s illegal is the UK, where the England and Wales Cricket Board says that 15 people were ejected from games a total of 23 times for suspected courtsiding summer that is last.