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With the World Cup draw completed, anticipation is mounting for next summer’s tournament. Yet amidst the excitement of supporters and businesses awaiting the opportunities provided by the largest betting event on the planet, less savoury agents are plotting to profit illegally. Reports from the Indo-Asian News Service are circulating that bookmakers based in Malaysia are planning on making hundreds of millions of dollars from illegal bets on football matches. Around $10 billion dollars a year is exchanged from illegal football betting each year in Malaysia, and a significant proportion of that revenue stems from international matches.The Malaysian authorities have worked hard to clamp down on illegal gambling, imposing tough punishments aimed to deter offenders. Those held responsible face a prison sentence of up to five years and maximum fine of 200,000 ringgit ($57,150), yet these laws have had little impact on combating the proliferation of black market betting. Football remains the largest target of organised criminal activity, although in Malaysia all sports with the exception of horse racing are beyond the reach of legitimate gambling.The phenomenon is not restricted to the Asian market, with Fifa president Sepp Blatter this week confirming the fears of many sports fans that the game has been corrupted on many levels. “”There is cheating, violence, doping, illegal betting and many other problems in the game,” he said. FIFA has set up Early Warning Systems (EWS) based in Switzerland in an attempt to detect unusual betting patterns and combat the threat of match fixing posed by Asian crime syndicates profiting from illegal betting markets. The measures have had a limited impact. Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said in a 2008 report on illegal betting and organised crime that 430 people had been arrested and 272 underground gambling dens – handling $650m in illegal bets – had been shut down. Yet the problem has proved difficult to eradicate.The deterrents in place cannot compete with the scale of profit the illegal gambling market offers organised criminal gangs. According to evidence compiled by the European Gaming & Betting Association, a regulated gambling market would offer more opportunities to detect and report unusual betting practices. While the European Courts have until now demonstrated faith in state-run monopolies to regulate the industry and preserve the integrity of sporting events, a 2008 study from e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) indicated that  67 percent of the responsible gaming standards implemented by legitimate gambling operators licensed by the EU matched or exceeded those applied by ten of Europe’s largest monopolies – confirming that the private sector is leading the way in responsible gaming practices.The Right2bet campaign continues its drive for an EU regulated gambling market, open to competition from licensed operators representing the legitimate private sector.The petition can be found at www.right2bet.netAbout right2bet- right2bet is a EU wide campaign asking people to petition for the right to choose their online betting provider, irrespective of which Member State they operate from. Everyone in the EU should have the right to choose and not have it decided for them.- right2bet stands for freedom of choice and against the injustice of some current European laws. Sign the petition today at www.right2bet.net- right2bet is an open, industry-wide campaign initially funded by Betfair. All gaming operators and interested parties are invited to sign-up and support it.