Organized crime mobsters, coaches, athletes, the NBA and the FBI. If you think it just one sport or league – you are in a dream world. This is the tip of the iceberg. Gambling addiction is rife among athletes.

• This is the big sports news that I have been hinting about for years. The day has finally, arrived when American sports stars and coaches, along with their alleged mobster chums, have been arrested for match-fixing. There is more – much more – to come. If anyone thinks this kind of behaviour is confined to one US sport or league – you are living in a dream world.
• The unspoken of driver for much of this alleged fixing is gambling addiction. Jontay Porter, the ex-NBA player, who was involved with another illegal betting ring was a desperate addict who had lost most of his money in gambling addiction. It will be the same for many other athletes caught up in this current scandal.
  Gambling addiction is rife among athletes and virtually no one speaks about it. Everything that makes a young sports person good at their sport – obsession, never giving up, overturning huge disadvantages by massive sweat – makes them terrible gamblers.
• Poker games are the magnets for organized crime. I spoke with the Canadian version of Donnie Brasco, the legendary undercover officer. The man had spent years working illegal gambling networks connected to the mob in Canada. His words: “We use poker games to figure out who are the whales – the big degenerate gamblers. Those are the people we are hunting for. We may even let them win a little at the poker just to hook them into the system.”
• This scandal was exactly, ten years, eleven months and five days in the making. On November 13, 2014 Adam Silver wrote an op.ed for the New York Times, claiming that the time had come for sports gambling to link with his NBA. Bet he is not so keen now.
• Every American sports fans has a right to look at games now and doubt. This does not mean that every play in every sports is corrupt. But it does mean that the essential credibility of the leagues is under serious threat. How will fans know the difference between an honest mistake and a corrupt play?
• This is another stage in an investigation. Some of the people arrested today, big stars, coaches or not, will be innocent. It is the nature of these events that the dragnet is wide.