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College Sports Uneasy Gamble22 October 2001WASHINGTON, D.C. –- As reported by the Washington Post: "In about two weeks, the NCAA is expected to approve an `emergency' rules change that would bar college teams from playing games at hotels with casinos that offer sports betting, a change considered such a formality that one member referred to it as `house cleaning.' "But less than two months after the University of Florida banned a star basketball player for allegedly providing information to a gambler, the NCAA faces a much more difficult task: It must determine which relationships, if any, between colleges and the gambling industry are acceptable and what role the organization should play in effecting change. "With 38 states operating some sort of casino gambling -- only Nevada allows betting on individual games -- the relationships, according to a Washington Post review, range from teams staying at casino hotels while playing in Las Vegas, to schools accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising and sponsorship money from Nevada, riverboat and Native American-operated casinos. "Critics of those relationships, saying a mixed message is being sent to young adults, think the NCAA should sever all ties to gambling. "…But that view is hardly unanimous, providing evidence of the difficulty the NCAA faces as it ponders new policies. "…The Board of Presidents also asked NCAA staff to deliver by late this month a full review on the relationships between college sports and all gambling so any new policy could be in place for the 2002-03 academic year. But NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro said the review will not be finished in time and a completion date has not been determined. "…For now, NCAA president Cedric Dempsey, a strong opponent of sports betting on college games, would prefer to focus on eliminating games in casino-hotels. "….As well as forbidding coaches and administrators from wagering on college or pro games, the NCAA requires athletes to sign a form saying they will neither bet nor provide inside information on them. Recent studies at Michigan and Cincinnati showed one in every four football and men's basketball players bet on college sports, including 4 percent who bet on their own games…" |