For tennis fans, there’s nothing they’d rather be doing at this time than sitting courtside viewing Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams during the Australian Open. But one man that is young the UK was arrested this week for ‘courtsiding’ of a different nature, becoming the first ever to be faced with the emerging crime Down Under.

The 22-year-old Brit, Daniel Dobson, had been arrested after attending a match at the Australian Open on Tuesday afternoon. He was immediately charged with ‘engaging in conduct that would corrupt an outcome that is betting’ 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 practice of sitting live at a tennis match and watching the event unfold, while simultaneously betting in the outcome, or alerting a third-party via mobile device about what is going on in real-time so which they can achieve this. In specific, it takes benefit of in-play betting, and especially microbetting on the outcome of specific points and games. A fast bettor can place bets after they know the result of a given point but before the bookmaker does; something that could obviously potentially cost bookies many millions of dollars in unfairly garnered payouts since there is a delay of seconds between when the point is played live and when it is broadcast on television.

This is often utilized many demonstrably in wagering on who’ll win a given game, 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 had been just 30-15, for instance. But also without that type of instant advantage, courtsiding can subtly be used more. A bettor may get a bet on a match or set in following a player breaks serve, which would significantly change the odds in their benefit.

Of program, such bets violate the integrity of sports betting, as one side has information about the game that the other could not possibly obtain. That is why their state of Victoria in Australia passed a law against the practice last year one that carries a sentence all the way to a decade in prison.

Other people Could be Involved

According to police, this arrest had not been the consequence of a isolated incident. Victoria Police deputy commissioner Graham Ashton noted there are others involved, and police say that the man they arrested was element of a larger gambling syndicate, perhaps headquartered in Eastern Europe. Australian media reported that the man was an employee of Sporting Data Limited, an exclusive recreations company that is betting in Surrey.

Sporting Data fired straight back quickly during the arrest, accusing Victorian authorities of misusing the new legislation. Dobson showed up at Melbourne Magistrate’s Court toward the end of the week, received bail and will be back an additional week to face charges; prosecutors say he used a device that is electronic his shorts to transmit the scores before TV delays might be broadcast. Two other unnamed men that are british also being investigated for similar costs.

But Dobson’s protection attorney, Sazz Nasimi, said in court that their client was just giving information to a worldwide sports guide to 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 most sporting venues these days but justified it by saying none of these employees placed any bets themselves. The company claimed the move was necessary such that it could get ‘the many information that is up-to-date and remain competitive in ‘the tightest and most competitive environment there is,’ outlining the cut-throat nature of this worldwide recreations wagering industry these days.

Experts within the integrity of sporting events say that courtsiding is the latest tactic used by equivalent unlawful groups which have been accused of match repairing in the past. That’s since the scheme tends to be much more straightforward to pull off, especially in areas where authorities are very much looking for indications of match repairing. For events not being televised, some fraudsters have also bribed the employees charged with sending score updates to bookmakers in order to create a longer delay.

‘It’s pretty tricky to test and identify it. Very often these people use very devices that are small they conceal within their clothing, often having unique pouches sewn into clothing. Then they’ll simply press on a few buttons under their clothes. So [it is] very hard to get,’ Ashton said.

While numerous countries do not have laws particularly outlawing courtsiding, most major sporting competitions have guidelines that enable organizers to eject spectators who they believe are engaged in the training. One nation where its illegal may be the UK, where the England and Wales Cricket Board states that 15 people were ejected from games a total of 23 times for suspected courtsiding last summer.