There have been several prior reports about a number of professional sports organizations investigating illegal gambling activates ranging from tennis to cricket with the most notable being Tim Donaghy, the former NBA official who bet on games he officiated. The Kansas City Star is reporting just how much these allegations are affecting the sports community:

In an unprecedented move to keep illegal gambling and match-fixing out of the Olympics, the IOC is setting up a special unit to check for suspicious betting patterns during the Beijing Games.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Friday that agreements have been signed with major betting companies for the first time to monitor any irregular gambling during the Aug. 8-24 games.  “We rely on them to advise us if there is an abnormal pattern in betting and then they will advise us if something is suspicious,” he said. “It is (in) their interest to work with us. It is (in) our interest to work with them because these betting companies definitely also want a clean sport.”

It really is a sad time when things have gotten so out of hand that the most prestigious of sporting events will be, for the first time in history, monitored for illegal sports betting and game fixing.