Concerns about Match-Fixing Temporarily Suspend Betting on Ukrainian Table Tennis in NJ

New Jersey regulator introduced a temporary ban on Ukrainian table tennis betting. The ban was a result of concerns which were raised by the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association.

NJ Suspended Temporarily Betting on Ukrainian Table Tennis

Earlier this week, betting on Ukrainian table tennis in New Jersey was suspended. The temporary suspension was introduced by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). Effective from July 9, all sportsbooks in the state were told to stop offering betting on all table tennis matches in Ukraine. Furthermore, sportsbooks in the state were instructed to stop offering betting on any matches at any location with the participation of six players. According to the regulator’s order, no betting can be offered for matches with the following players: Liliia Zaitseva, Anastasia Efimova, Eduard Panichev, Ivan Gaysin, Karen Dzhanibekyan and Gleb Zotov.

Earlier this week, the DGE was contacted by the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association. The association raised a concerns that the Ukrainian table tennis matches may be fixed. As a result of the suspected match-fixing, the ban on betting for those games was introduced. DGE statement on the subject said:

While there is not yet any evidence that any match fixing occurred in New Jersey, due the nature of the alert, the Division is suspending approval for wagering on all table tennis events in the Ukraine, including but not limited to the Setka Cup, WIN Cup, and TT Cup.“

With Global Sports Events Cancelled, Betting on Exotic Sports Became Popular

Looking back at March, most of the sports events globally were postponed. This was one of the many efforts of the governments across the globe aiming at reducing the spread of the respiratory disease COVID-19. With that being said, even the Olympic Games, initially planned to for this year were postponed until 2021. This is actually the first time that the Olympic Games were postponed whereas previously they have been cancelled only during wartime.

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— #TokyoOlimpics (@TokyoOlimpics) March 24, 2020

With global sports events on hold, the sportsbooks in the US marked high interest in betting on rather exotic sports such as table tennis, electronic sports, the Belarusian Premier League, and even the Virtual Kentucky Derby. Keeping this in mind, US punters have bet thousands of dollars on exotic sports daily.

Betting on Ukrainian Table Tennis Temporarily Banned in More States

Focusing once more on table tennis, besides New Jersey, betting in Colorado was also temporarily suspended. Colorado regulator’s decision actually came the same day as the DGE’s decision in NJ. Elsewhere, another state introduced ban on betting on any table tennis events which are not regulated by the European Table Tennis Union and the International Table Tennis Federation. This decision was taken by the Indiana Gaming Commission. So far no end date for the betting ban on table tennis was announced.

Turning our eyes to the current post-COVID-19 situation, popular sports in the US and around the globe are slowly resuming play. The UFC, Major League Soccer (MLS) and NASCAR have already resumed their operations. On the other hand, the Major League Baseball (MLB) as well as the NBA plan to resume their play in the upcoming weeks. With that in mind, punters currently betting on exotic sports may quickly lose interest.