LeRoy Wants to Abolish Betting in the “Temple of Football”

The recent allegations of match fixing at the African Cup of Nations have upset many, including Claude LeRoy, who doesn’t want to see the beauty of the sport tarnished by such unsavory practices.

His solution? Abolish all football betting, including the legal kind.

LeRoy just doesn’t get why football authorities allow betting companies to get involved in the sport (sponsorships, sanctioned betting, etc). According to LeRoy, betting could destroy football:

”When you let more merchants come into the temple, there is a big danger for the temple and football is the most beautiful temple that we can imagine in every country and we have to fight against all these merchants.”

To be honest, I pretty much agree with LeRoy. Not being a gambler myself, I don’t get the allure of betting on results, especially when it’s taken so seriously with such high stakes. It seems to me that putting money on a team’s win – another team’s loss – does take away from the purity of the game.

Football being a temple and all that.

Am I being too idealistic like LeRoy? Or does betting contribute to the sport?