The online gambling industry generates billions of dollars whether in the form of online scratch cards, online poker machines or online sports betting. We all know that there is nothing more enjoyable than watching our favorite sporting  team play at the highest level But there is one thing which can make the viewing even more thrilling, when we  have a wager on the result or events in the game.

This week there was a major controversial football match in the Europe’s most prestigious competition the Champion’s League.

There was a shock result when the French side Lyon defeated Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia by a whopping 7-1 hammering. This astounding defeat also broke the record for the fasted hat-trick of all time in the history in the Champion’s League.

This has led to much debate as to whether the game was fixed in order to influence online gambling wagers.

This surprise result gave Lyon a surprise ticket to the last 16 in the competition at the expense of Ajax Amsterdam. There were also questions raised at the ease of which the goals were scored. Lyon did not manage to score before the 28th minute and were even a goal behind in the first half.

Added to this there was an interesting television stills picture of Dinamo Zagreb defender Domagoj Vida seen to be winking at the Lyon forward Bafetimbi Gomis after scoring the 5th goal.

ARJEL,France’s online gaming authority looked into the matter and to see if there is any evidence of match-fixing. However ARJEL President Jean-Francois Villotte has called on the European’s soccer’s governing body UEFA to investigate the matter.

According to UEFA they “have established a system for fraud detection…which examines 29,000 matches per season and uses the data of more than 400 betting organizations.”

It seems that in light of all the “unusual” events of the match, this controversy will not go away so soon and answers will have to be given.

The issue of secure online gambling is essential for long term sustainability of the gaming industry. We as the scratch card players or the sports betting fanatics expect all our online activity to be safe, secure and most importantly to be free of any irregularities.

I as a scratch card fanatic believe in the checks and balances of the reputable online casinos such as Scratchgames.com,Hopa.com, Karamba.com and MegamoneyGames.com to mention just a few.

So continue to scratch and win while at the same time always  playing safe!