Ahead of the Betway Premiership kicking into action, the betting company has warned PSL players about the dangers of placing bets, especially after an incident that involved Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine and some of his teammates.
Chaine landed in hot water at Pirates in May last year after a video surfaced on social media, where he was involved in dressing room banter with teammates and boasted about placing a bet in the English Premier League match.
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At the time, there appeared to be little education on the prohibition of professional players placing bets by FIFA, and the Soweto giants quickly released a statement, clarifying that the player had not placed any bets.
Given the new headline sponsor for the Premiership is a betting company, concerns have been raised about the integrity of matches being potentially compromised, if players are going to place bets, given that the exposure to betting would have increased.
However, Betway Head of Marketing Mark Rowles says they have a database in place to ensure players and stakeholders in the game do not participate in betting on their platform and have plans in place to engage and educate players.
"We've already got the database of the entire football ecosystem to make sure that those people [players] aren't betting with us," Rowles said on The Pitchside Podcast, published on Mamelodi Sundowns' YouTube Channel.
"But we've also built into the contract the right to engage with every single club. We want to make sure we educate the players on the dangers of it. It has happened around the world [where players place bets], there's massive funds involved.
"Not only as a player, but it also brings the industry into disrepute. I think it's the key thing. We want to engage with the players, the administrators, that they understand the dangers. Hopefully we can put our best foot forward and say: 'Gents and ladies, this is not something you should be doing. Once you're involved in the game, betting is actually not for you'," Rowles added.
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According to FIFA, players, or anyone involved in football, would be liable to a fine of at least CHF 100, 000 (R2 million) or a ban from football activities for a maximum period of three years if found guilty of placing bets or participating in similar kinds of gambling.
Stakeholders prohibited from betting in the game also include match officials, agents and club officials.
Those involved in the game are also not allowed to place bets through third parties, a conduct which FIFA has the powers to investigate.