Athlete apparently cashed out bet

Published Jul. 28, 2012 9:09 a.m. ET

foxsports

Ireland's Olympic team is investigating one of its athletes for betting on an opponent to win at a pre-London Games event.

The Olympic Council of Ireland said Saturday that an athlete made a $4,800 profit on the wagers, and withdrew $4,435 in cash from an account with a gambling operator.

''At the moment, it is between the Olympic Council of Ireland legal department and athlete's counsel,'' team spokesman Jack McGouran told The Associated Press by telephone.

The athlete's name and sport will not be disclosed during the legal process, the team official said. The details also were not identified in a report Saturday in the Irish Independent daily.

''We are aware of it, we are gathering information and will take action if needed,'' IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

IOC rules bar athletes from betting on Olympic events.

''We have a proper process of dealing with betting cases which is much more robust than we had before,'' Adams said, adding that the case appears to have ''no effect so far on the games. At the moment it's just to gather the information to decide if there's a case to answer from our side.''

Illegal and insider betting in sports has fueled fears that match-fixing and corruption present a bigger threat to the integrity of sports than doping.

The IOC has led efforts in recent years to bring sports federations, law enforcement agencies, governments and the legal gambling operators together to coordinate and fund the fight against betting corruption.