非法赌博长期以来一直延伸着国际体坛的各个角落，成为困扰各项体育赛事的一个重大问题。然而在美国却是一个例外。这个现象确实让人困惑，众所周知，美国人一直有在体育比赛中赌一把的习惯，而美国的运动员们和世界上的足球和板球运动员们一样，大多都出身社会底层，美国怎么会在世界体育的赌博洪流中独善其身呢？

　　据统计，2009年，赌客们在内华达州的赌场开出的各项体育赛事竞猜中豪掷26亿美元（这还不包括该州发行的其它与体育相关的彩票，内华达州也是美国唯一相关赌博合法的地区）。然而这些只是冰山一角，与足球、板球比赛一样，博彩公司开出赔率的对象也开始不仅限于比赛结果，很多赌徒根本不用关心比赛的结果，他们下注的内容可以是比赛的某一段内容，或者是比赛中发生的某些特殊事件。

　　NFL超级碗决赛是美国人最关注的体育赛事，它所吸引的赌徒也是所有赛事中最多的。赌博公司也给开出了关于超级碗相关各种各样的赔率，从两队比分的总和，到哪名球员完成第一次触地得分，甚至最后球员泼向冠军教练身上的佳得乐的颜色（结果是橙色，赔率是1赔4）。以上这些仅仅是最简单的玩法，为了给外行球迷一个重在参与的机会。

　　运动员们普遍出身贫寒，因此被普遍认为是他们接受赌博公司的贿赂打假球的原因。这也解释了正在英国打比赛的巴基斯坦板球队的假球丑闻。几名巴基斯坦板球队的球员被指控收取了赌博公司的贿赂，然后在比赛中输球或者是故意投球失误。这几名球员和巴基斯坦板球队的官员都否认了这一指控。一位巴基斯坦的高级官员甚至把脏水泼向了英国队，根据不明来源的消息，他指出，英国队在最近的一场比赛中故意输给了对手。英国队的球员立刻愤怒的否认了这一消息，英国的球迷也不厌其烦的说，他们的球队没有打假球，在比赛中莫名其妙的溃败只不过是英国队一贯的作风罢了。

　　对于足球和板球运动员来说，从天而降的名利与金钱会使他们迷失自我，这也是给假球的产生创造了温床。尤其在经济发展比较落后的国家、低级别的赛事中，假球泛滥程度更加严重。尤其是亚洲的一些水平较低的联赛中，这些赛事受关注的球迷很少，但是却吸引来了大批赌徒。这个月初，巴林队在主场迎来了一支来自多哥的球队，结果巴林队3比0获胜。但最近多哥足协表态，去巴林比赛的那支队伍和他们没有任何关系。有人猜测那场比赛的结果和中间出现的某些过程是赌博公司操纵比赛的结果。

　　译文Betting on sportTHE lengthening shadow cast by illegal betting syndicates over international sport has one curious exception: America. That is surprising, given that Americans are ardent betters on sport and, as with soccer and cricket, sportsmen there are often youths from lowly backgrounds.

　　In 2009 punters bet almost $2.6 billion on sports in Nevada’s casinos （apart from a handful of sport-related lotteries, it is the only state in which such wagers are legal）。 Such legal betting is only a small fraction of the total. As with cricket and soccer, not all bets are strictly on games’ outcomes: “exotic” wagers （variously known as prop, side or spot bets） on passages of play or specific occurrences are widely placed.

　　These have become a feature of betting on the Super Bowl, the climax of the American football season, which attracts more wagers than any other American sporting event. For February’s game online bookies offered odds on anything from total points, to who would score the first touchdown, to what colour Gatorade would be dumped on the winning head coach （it was orange, offered at four-to-one）。 Those are just the sort of oddities that are most easily manipulated by outsiders.

　　Then there are all those young men from humble backgrounds. Many say that explains the latest, long-running scandal concerning Pakistan’s cricket team, now touring England. Some of its members are accused of conniving with bookmakers, if not to lose matches then at least to instigate specific events in the game. They and their officials deny that. A senior Pakistani has now cited unsourced rumours that the English team may have deliberately lost a recent game. The players furiously reject this. English fans say wearily that their side is quite capable of collapse without any outside incentive.

　　Exposing young players to sudden wealth and temptation is seen as a prime cause of corruption in both cricket and soccer. It particularly afflicts minor matches between lesser sides and from poorer countries. Largely unnoticed elsewhere, these can attract huge interest from gamblers, especially in Asia. In Bahrain earlier this month, a football team purporting to be from Togo turned up for a friendly match, which they lost 3-0. But the Togolese authorities now say the fixture was nothing to do with them. Some suspect that the event （and result） were staged on behalf of people placing insider bets.