Iran Seriously Countering Football Betting Websites

In an interview with Mizan, as translated by IFP, Hamisi referred to the activities of football games betting sites and noted that Iran’s Cyber Police (known as FATA) and intelligence services have offered help for identification of these sites.

“We have been monitoring their activities for more than a year and a half and arrested a large number of these people last year with the help of the Islamic Republic’s Law Enforcement.”

He regretted that most betting activities inside the country are being directed from East Asian countries mainly.

“We have made contacts with FIFA and Interpol to put an end to these activities,” Hamisi stressed.

The Iranian state TV has been recently holding TV contests where people are asked to guess the results of football matches and text them to win prizes if they were correct.

Asked about such contests and their relation to betting activities, Hamisi replied, “We have queried IRIB authorities about the issue and they said that the contests are all about guessing and are different from betting activities.”

In response to a question about the possible effect of betting agencies on football match results, he noted, “There is no hard evidence to support such claim; however, we are still looking into it.”