Eyebrows raised across the world when Ukrainian table tennis became the hottest thing in sports betting. A trail of suspicious activity has led back to an alleged match-fixing mastermind in Australia, a former top player himself. New South Wales police have charged Adam Green, 40, seen here being apprehended in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals, of "knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime with intent to conceal." Green, a former junior standout, trained in Slovakia in his twenties. Although he was in contention for the 2012 Australian Olympic team, Green never rose to international prominence in table tennis. Not as a player, at least. The police allege that Green used his connections from his playing days back in Europe to get insider information on rigged matches in the Ukrainian Setka League, one of the few sources of regular action for gamblers during the pandemic. Green then placed bets through a network of Australian affiliates, quickly raking in half a million dollars. From the beginning, the sudden glut of Eastern European table tennis leagues aroused suspicion. The American state of New Jersey, a gambling mecca, banned betting on any table tennis specifically from Ukraine based on numerous reports of corruption. Gambling commissions such as Sports Integrity Australia used sophisticated software to detect irregular betting patterns. When they noticed that nine Australian "punters" were inexplicably knowledgeable about Ukrainian table tennis, they followed the money to Green. Adam Green posted bail and will face trial in January. Police hint that more arrests are to follow. Of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and deserves a fair trial before being condemned by the court of public opinion. Guilty or no, however, it is certainly not a good look for anyone, let alone a former elite athlete. I mean, perp-walking in flip-flops? Ouch.

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