“The World Cup will shatter every known betting record, with British bookmakers alone taking over £1 billion – double the turnover from the 2002 event and resulting in customers staking £1.3million every hour of the tournament,” said Graham Sharpe of William Hill.
“Every four years the World Cup attracts billions of viewers who not only fanatically support their national team with pride, but also in the hope of winning their bets,” said Simon Noble of PinnacleSports.com. “With FIFA forecasting that 32 billion people worldwide will tune into the tournament this year, it\’s easy to predict wagering on Germany 2006 will dwarf any other sporting event in history.”
World Cup organizers have signed agreements with an undisclosed number of bookmakers to share information about unusual betting patterns during the tournament in Germany.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he is confident the World Cup will be scandal-free, not least because the consequences of cheating while playing for a national team are greater than in club soccer.
Calculators
