A bookmaker continues to work inside the Gold Coast Suns\u2019 dressing room while he is subject to an AFL integrity unit investigation, as the competition\u2019s chief executive Andrew Dillon flagged the apparent conflict of interest will be addressed.<\/p>\n
Mark Opie\u2019s gambling firm Okebet was fined $100,000 by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) in 2024 for inducing bets by players at local footy clubs.<\/p>\n
Opie \u2013 a Richmond Tigers life member who moved to the Suns in 2024 \u2013 managed warm-ups for the Suns before their weekend victory over St Kilda in Darwin, despite the investigation being triggered last week.<\/p>\n
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillion said on Monday the league is looking at the link.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I can say is the integrity unit\u2019s aware of it and that we\u2019re liaising with the Gold Coast Suns in relation to that, and there\u2019ll be more to say on that later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to address whether it was a good look for the AFL to have a bookmaker inside a club\u2019s dressing room, Dillon repeated: \u201cWe\u2019ll have more to say on that later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okebet\u2019s website has stopped offering bets on AFL matches. Opie and the company have not responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
The issue is the latest triggered by the close proximity of wagering and footy interests, following the resignation of Kane Cornes as an All-Australian selector due to his role hosting a weekly show for Sportsbet.<\/p>\n
His Sportsbet showmate Kate McCarthy is set to be allowed to continue as an AFLW All Australian selector because betting is not offered for the women\u2019s team of the year.<\/p>\n
The images of Opie, captured on the broadcast, surprised the man who tipped off the AFL to the link last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m shocked that Gold Coast let him come on to the ground, it just shows they might not be taking this seriously,\u201d said Gordon Burns.<\/p>\n
AFL fan Gordon Burns. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old describes himself as a \u201cmassive Collingwood supporter\u201d who loves the game, but is concerned by the prevalence of betting around the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping the AFL runs a thorough investigation,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if there are findings, act promptly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burns is a former gambler with Okebet who researched the owners of the firm earlier this year, and discovered the link with the Suns.<\/p>\n
The connection had been discussed on message boards for more than a year, but was only acted upon by the AFL when Burns emailed the league last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bookmaker continues to work inside the Gold Coast Suns\u2019 dressing room while he is subject to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-663547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}