Four men charged after Brownlow Medal betting probe

Police have charged four men, including a former AFL umpire, with various offences as part of the sports integrity investigation into irregular betting on the 2021 and 2022 Brownlow Medal counts.

In November 2022, former AFL umpire Michael Pell was arrested after allegedly leaking Brownlow Medal votes from specific matches of the 2022 season in one of the most serious integrity scandals to hit the league. The investigation then widened into the 2021 season, when Pell was an emergency umpire.

The field umpire was one of four men arrested over suspicious Brownlow betting that was flagged to the AFL by one of its betting partners. This led to an investigation in which multiple agencies discovered irregularities in betting on who would poll the maximum three votes in some games.

In a statement released on Tuesday, a 35-year-old Reservoir man was charged with 53 offences in relation to wagering on the 2021 and 2022 Brownlow Medal counts, including undertaking a course of conduct to use corrupt conduct information for betting purposes, undertaking a course of conduct to obtain financial advantage by deception, use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes, communicate information and use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.

Police said a 34-year-old Glenroy man had been charged with six offences in relation to wagering on the 2021 Brownlow Medal, including use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes – communicate information and undertaking a course of conduct to use corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.

A 32-year-old Doreen man has been charged with 20 offences in relation to wagering on the 2021 and 2022 Brownlow Medal counts, including undertaking a course of conduct to use corrupt conduct information for betting purposes and use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.

A 31-year-old Hadfield man has been charged with 23 offences in relation to wagering on the 2021 Brownlow Medal, including undertaking a course of conduct to use corrupt conduct information for betting purposes and undertaking a course of conduct to obtain financial advantage by deception.

The 2021 Brownlow Medal was won by Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines, while Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps won the 2022 count.

The four men have been summonsed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 11.

The AFL was contacted for comment.

As reported by this masthead, suspicious bets on Brownlow Medal votes were allegedly laid on more than 10 of the 16 AFL games in which umpire Michael Pell officiated during 2022.

Police said search warrants were executed on a number of occasions in varying suburbs throughout the investigation. The maximum penalties for these offences – cheating at gambling and obtaining financial advantage by deception – is a decade in prison.

When the story broke, the AFL said there was no suggestion of match or spot-fixing and that the breach of the 2022 count did not influence the result.

However, the fallout is severe in that it allegedly involves a match official divulging information, whereas previous betting scandals have involved players or club officials.

The AFL said in 2022 that round-by-round betting, for which markets do not open until the end of the home-and-away season, was at the centre of the investigation.

The bets ranged in size up to several thousand dollars.

Given Pell was a field umpire, he was involved in casting votes for the Brownlow Medal. He was interviewed by police when the story first broke.

Victoria Police have alleged in a statement that a person with knowledge of the voting tally distributed the information to a group of people known to them.

Warrants were initially carried at residential properties in Glenroy, Kilsyth, Oak Park, Drouin, Craigieburn and Doreen. Several mobile phones and electronic items were seized.

Police investigated how many matches potentially had votes released and the magnitude of the bets involved. Voting irregularities can be easily detected by an algorithm used by betting agencies.

PointsBet notified the AFL of the suspicious betting, prompting the AFL’s integrity unit to look at other bets on the Brownlow by those under investigation.

Pell, who began his umpiring career in the Essendon District Football League, was only promoted to the AFL field umpires list for the start of the 2022 season, having officiated in one game the previous year when he was called into action as an emergency umpire. He had also umpired a VFL grand final and an AFLW grand final. He is no longer an umpire with the AFL.

The AFL has since introduced a $250 payout limit for round-by-round betting on the Brownlow Medal to avoid a repeat of the betting scandal.

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