Four arrested in Victoria police investigation into betting on AFL’s Brownlow medal

A person with inside knowledge of the AFL’s Brownlow medal tallies is accused of leaking the information to a betting ring, Victorian police say, after four men were arrested.

On Monday detectives from Victoria police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit arrested four men over allegedly suspicious betting activity connected to this season’s medal count.

Police are investigating how many matches may have had votes released, and exactly how much money was allegedly awarded from the bets.

At this stage, police have no information to suggest that the outcome of the vote was affected, as the allegations relate solely to the sharing of information.

The investigation is being conducted in conjunction with the AFL and Sport Integrity Australia.

Detectives executed warrants four homes across Victoria, seizing several mobile phones and electronic items.

All four men arrested have been interviewed by police and released from custody.

Victoria police said they are investigating whether betting-related offences have been committed, including the crime of using corrupt conduct information for betting purposes and engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency.

These offences carry up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

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Commander Deb Robertson, from the police’s Intelligence & Covert Support Command, said a dedicated team of detectives were “committed to investigating any and all allegations of corruption in sport”.

“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.

“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.”