美国的赌球现象——足球与篮球

　　美国体育的理事机构往往对非法的体育赌博投注不以为然。全国篮球协会总裁大卫斯特恩表示，合法的体育博彩“可能是一个巨大的机会”。其他大多数体育比赛对赌博没有那么高的热情。全国足球联赛发言人布赖恩麦卡锡说，全国足球联赛拒绝任何赌博。当特拉华州试图修改其法律允许体育博彩时，NFL表现出强烈反对。全国足球联赛为反赌博做出了很多努力，另一个监督机构是全国大学体育协会。全国大学体育协会对新球员都会进行深入的反赌教育。因此现在全国足球联赛的赌球现象已经非常少见。 NFL在1963年对两名球员进行了禁赛，因为这两名球员参与了赌球活动，在20世纪80年代又发生了类似的事件。

　　研究体育赌博影响的专家Declan Hill表示，全国足球联赛这种强硬的立场对于足球和篮球体坛来说是迫切需要的。他的研究涉及matchfixers，秘密录音和详细的异常事件和结果的统计分析。他把赌球描述为一个“海啸”，已经破坏了大多数亚洲足球联赛，造成很多亚洲足球联赛的腐败现象。

　　他希望博彩行业能出资成立一个独立的国际反腐败机构，对现有的机构进行资料信息收集和调查。他还说，每个国家的足球协会应设立一个独立的反腐小组，包括设立一条独立的反腐热线电话，方便球迷反映情况。

　　在美国在赌球方面采取了严厉的管理措施。但另一个影响假球的因素是钱。1915年，8名白袜队打假球的球员中，有5人的年收入超过6000美元，另外三人年收入大约3000美元。2009年踢球的巴基斯坦板球运动员获得的金额高达300万美元，这是他们平均工资的十倍。在最近美国体育腐败现象的实例中，最引人注目的是底薪篮球裁判员的腐败行为。大学篮球联赛的统计分析也表明，一些篮球赛事中出现了极不可能的得分模式。

　　译文

　　American sports’ governing bodies tend to regard all gambling with disapproval. David Stern, who heads the National Basketball Association, says cautiously that legal betting on his sport “may be a huge opportunity”。 He is an exception. Most other sporting big shots are less enthusiastic. The National Football League would rather not have any gambling at all, says Brian McCarthy, a spokesman. When Delaware tried amending its laws to allow sports betting, the NFL was strongly opposed. The league makes a strong anti-gambling pitch to new players, as does the National Collegiate Athletic Association, another oversight body. Violations are now rare. The NFL suspended two players for placing bets on games in 1963 and one for similar reasons in the 1980s.

　　That kind of tough stance is urgently needed in soccer and cricket, says Declan Hill, a specialist on the influence of gambling syndicates on sport. His research has involved clandestine recordings of matchfixers, and detailed statistical analysis of anomalous events and results. He describes corruption as a “tsunami” that has wrecked most Asian football leagues, and is now perverting European soccer.

　　He wants the gambling industry to finance an independent, international anti-corruption agency to collect information and conduct investigations, on the lines of the existing body that deals with doping in sport. Each national football association should set up independent integrity units, he says, with hotlines for players to report approaches and threats by match-fixers.

　　Tougher policing has certainly worked in America. But another reason is money. None of the eight “Black Sox” made more than $6,000 a year, and three made less than $3,000. In 2009 dollars that would be around $74,000 and $37,000 respectively. In 2009 the average major-league baseball salary was $3m—more than ten times the amount allegedly paid to corrupt three Pakistani cricketers playing against England. The highest-profile recent instance of corruption in American sports featured a low-paid basketball referee. Statistical analysis of college basketball also shows highly unlikely patterns of scoring.