Briton part of global spot-betting team
The man arrested for alleged “courtsiding” at the Australian Open on January 16 is a member of a team which travels the world sending real-time tennis scores to a British betting agency, a Melbourne court heard on Thursday.
Briton Daniel Thomas Dobson, 22, is one of six people who transmit point updates to the agency, said prosecutors, who believe the practice is a scam aimed at corrupting betting odds.
Dobson is accused of using a device hidden in his shorts and hooked up to a mobile phone to send point updates from the Australian Open to his British employer, Sporting Data, before they are available through official channels.
Prosecutor Luke Excell said he was one of six people engaged in “courtsiding” around the world.
Dobson was charged with engaging in conduct that would corrupt a betting outcome.
His lawyers deny the charge and said their client was merely collecting information for the betting agency.
“He’s previously been asked to leave a tournament in New Zealand,” prosecutor Luke Excell told Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge granted Dobson bail on the condition that he has to live with his father, who is a detective inspector with the Metropolitan Police.
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
