Warrants were carried out on Monday at residential properties in Glenroy,Kilsyth,Oak Park,Drouin,Craigieburn and Doreen. Two 32-year-old men from Glenroy,a 29-year-old man from Oak Park and a 27-year-old man from Drouin were arrested.
Three of the four men allegedly involved are expected to be charged on summons with using information to corrupt a betting event,meaning they will face criminal charges at a later date and be released by investigators,as the probe into the allegations continues. The fourth man was released pending further enquiries.
Several mobile phones and electronic items were seized.
“All four men are currently in custody assisting police with their enquiries and the investigation is ongoing. The criminal offences police are investigating are engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency,and using corrupt conduct information for betting purposes. These offences carry up to 10 years imprisonment,” police said in a statement.
Police are investigating how many matches potentially had votes released and the magnitude of the bets involved. If the allegations are found to be true,the umpire could also face AFL sanctions.
Loading
Police and the AFL say there is nothing to suggest Cripps’ win –confirmed only after his best-on-ground effort against Collingwood in the last round of the season – was impacted. The Carlton captain played the final two rounds,only after an initial two-match ban for rough conduct was quashed by the AFL appeals board.
Commander Deb Robertson,from Victoria Police’s intelligence and covert support command,said a dedicated team of detectives continued to work on the case.
“Victorians are well known for their love of AFL and in particular,the prestigious Brownlow Medal award,but equally they want to know that there is integrity,fairness and honesty behind this award,” Robertson said.
“We have been working with the AFL and Sport Integrity Australia in relation to these matters,and we will continue to work together to target,disrupt and apprehend people who commit these offences.
“The public assistance is a really key part – we know there are people out there involved in sport who see or hear things they know are not right,and we need them to speak up.”
The AFL’s highest individual honour is voted on by umpires,who select the three best players on the ground after each match. Three votes are awarded to the player deemed to have the most influence on the match,two votes to the next best and one vote to the third-best player.
On the day of the count,Brisbane’s Lachie Neale was the $3 favourite with bookies. Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver was second favourite at $3.50,with Cripps $5.
Punters have an array of options to bet on. This includes betting almost all year round on will be the individual winner. They also have the option of picking a quinella,or selecting a player to finish in the top three or top five. Picking the leader at the half-way point is also another popular option,so,too,selecting who will top a club’s count.
Another multi-bet option is when players are grouped in the positions they regularly line up in,for instance midfielders and ruckmen,with punters aiming to pick who will poll the most votes. Punters can bet in-play on the night of the count.
Voting irregularities can be easily detected by an algorithm used by betting agencies.
Pell,who began his umpiring career in the Essendon District Football League,was only promoted to the AFL field umpires list for the start of the 2022 season,having officiated in one game the previous year when he was called into action as an emergency umpire. He had also umpired a VFL grand final and an AFLW grand final.
“Amazing,and a great sense of achievement,that everything I’ve worked towards has culminated in a moment such as this,” Pell told the AFL Umpires Association website in March,after his AFL debut.