Sporting Data founders Steve High, Martin Pendlebury and Simon Allen have been revealed as former Betfair employees by the Telegraph.
The Sporting Data / Australian Open alleged ‘court siding’ drama rolls on after the Telegraph revealed that the company currently under fire by Australian lawmakers was set up by three former Betfair employees.
Steven High, a former Senior Product Manager, Martin Pendlebury, a former Sportsbook Team Manager, and Simon Allen, a former Software Engineer, are seemingly using their ties with their former employee to exploit whatever edges they can find.
Now the big debate is whether or not these edges are legal?
One person who is very much hoping that the answer is ‘yes’ is 22-year old Daniel Dobson; the Sporting Data employee who was arrested and charged with engaging in conduct that would corrupt a betting outcome.
Dobson made bail after his first hearing in front of the beak, and is now waiting to see if he will be doing 10-years of porridge for breaking crimes that fall under the Crimes Amendment (Integrity in Sport) Act 2013.
The Sporting Data employee was found using an electronic device stitched into his shorts to transmit data on the tennis action to accomplices overseas via mobile phone.
News reports suggest that Dobson’s actions allow Sporting Data to provide their customers with more accurate information that broadcast pictures will provide, because they get a 10-second head start.
It’s all about exploiting the edges.
High has been reported as saying he was ‘shocked that police got involved’ and believed that Mr. Dobson had done nothing ‘illegal,’ which one assumes is the same line they themselves fed Mr. Dobson when they were telling him to be still, whilst they stitched an electronic device to his shorts Mission Impossible style.
I mean I’m no expert…but sending an employee into his work environment in this way reminds me of the Breaking Bad scene where Hank Schrader is fitting a wire to Jesse Pinkman in a bid to bring down our loveable drug dealer.
In a staunch defense of the kid who now has his life in the hands of an Australian judge, his employers have launched a campaign of truths on their website that contains seven reasons why…
“Sporting Data has never been and never will be involved in any illegal betting or any other illegal activity whatsoever and take a serious view of any allegations that they have.”
And…
“Sporting Data has never been and never will be involved in any type of match fixing. We encourage a more proactive stance against those who are involved in match fixing.”
In a bid to prevent early introduction of carpal tunnel syndrome I attach a link for you to peruse those seven points until your heart’s content.
We will bring you more news after Dobson has had his date in court, which incidentally is Thursday 23rd January.
