Sporting bodies should have a say in how the betting industry operates

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Betfair spokesman Andrew Twaits said the betting exchange offered the same deal the company entered with the Australian Football League to all the other major sports in Australia.

Under the deal, each sporting body will have a say in the types of betting markets offered on their events, receive a share of Betfair\’s profits and get access to betting records.

The news came following reports of legislative moves in Victoria to give major sports the right to choose who bets on their events and to charge them for the privilege.

Twaits also said to be confident that other betting exchanges will be licensed in Australia within the next 12 months.

In separate news, the Tasmanian Trainers Association called a meeting with Premier Paul Lennon to assign the Betfair funds to the bread-and-butter races.

Tasmania\’s thoroughbred trainers said pumping an extra $600,000 into the Hobart and Launceston cups is not putting the money to its best use.

“It\’s ridiculous to have races worth that much when our normal stakes are so low that most struggle to make a living,” said a trainer.

“If they say that the average stake will go up $1750 then that\’s still not enough to make the industry viable.”

“We want to get our views across to Mr Lennon before the whole thing goes any further,” said another trainer. “For people like me, this our last chance to get a decent stakes increase – we can\’t afford to blow it.”