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 December 30 - The South African cricket team got more publicity than it bargained for during the Boxing Day Test game in Melbourne against the Australian team this weekend.
Betfair, the iconic gambling operator, recently signed a deal with Nine Network that allows the company to advertise during prime cricket matches. However, prominent Australians were horrified to see Betfair's products promoted during the Boxing Day Test match, saying that minors were being exposed to the concept of online wagering.
One of the most vocal opponents to Betfair's advertisement, which also features cricket great Ritchie Benaud, was the South Australian Senator, Nick Xenophon, who himself was voted in on a clear anti-gambling platform. Xenophon said that he was appalled to see Betfair's products advertised on billboards on the cricket lawns, and said that he was concerned that youngsters would go home and use the internet to wager on cricket or other sports, without their parents' knowledge.
"It's a shame for the great game of cricket that it's been reduced to just another event to have a punt on," said Xenophon. "It diminishes the great game of cricket."
Another opponent to the advert that appeared in the game played out between the South African cricket and Australian cricket teams was the head of World Vision, Tim Costello. "You've got families and kids here," he said. "Of course gambling is a part of life, but I think when it's a family cultural event like the Boxing Day Test, the advertising is inappropriate."
Costello gave his own opinion about what he considered the dangers of gambling. "The truth is we know that gambling addiction breaks up families," he said. "When it's a family event like the cricket, when it's being broadcast live and kids are listening to it, it is overstepping the mark. It's inappropriate certainly for kids at a family event."
This article should serve as an example of the smallness of life in Australia. What a petty, puckered-up nation, and we truly hope that South Africa swats them in this test and forces them to live for nothing but the next wave of bush fires.
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