Widespread Betting Scandal Involving NCAA and Chinese Basketball Uncovered
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors have unveiled a comprehensive betting scheme that manipulated games within the NCAA and the Chinese Basketball Association, implicating 26 individuals. Among them are over a dozen college basketball players accused of participating in game-fixing activities as recently as the last NCAA season.
Authorities described the scheme as involving “fixers” who enticed players with significant financial incentives to deliberately underperform in games. These fixers would then place substantial bets against the players’ teams, thereby defrauding sportsbooks and unsuspecting bettors, according to the indictment unsealed recently.
This illicit operation initially targeted two Chinese Basketball Association games in 2023, and after its success, expanded to include NCAA games by January 2025. Payments to players ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, officials reported.
Several players, including Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi, and Camian Shell, have played for their teams in recent days, though the allegations do not pertain to this current season.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf characterized the scheme as an “international criminal conspiracy” and a “significant corruption of the integrity of sports.”
Following the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision to lift the federal ban on sports betting, concerns over gambling and college sports have increased. Although the NCAA prohibits athletes and staff from betting on college events, a brief allowance for student-athletes to wager on professional sports was retracted last November.
Of the accused, 15 were NCAA Division 1 basketball players during the 2024-25 season, and some are still active this season. Five others last competed in the 2023-24 NCAA season, while former NBA player Antonio Blakeney participated in the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2022-23 season.
The remaining defendants are identified as fixers, including individuals involved in basketball training and development, a former coach, a previous NCAA player, and others known as gamblers, influencers, and sports handicappers.
The fixed games often resulted in successful bets for the defendants, leading to financial losses for sportsbooks, who were unaware of the game manipulations. “The sportsbooks would not have paid out those wagers had they known that the defendants fixed those games,” the indictment stated.
Other bettors, unaware of the scheme, also experienced financial losses and might not have placed bets had they known about the game-fixing activities.
The charges, filed in Philadelphia’s federal court, encompass bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy.
This scandal is part of a larger trend in the sports industry, where gambling revenue reached over $11 billion in the first nine months of last year, marking a 13% increase from the previous year, as reported by the American Gaming Association.
The indictment follows multiple NCAA investigations that have resulted in lifetime bans for at least 10 players this year. These investigations have involved allegations of betting on games by the players themselves, and the NCAA has looked into over 30 players for similar reasons. Additionally, more than 30 individuals were charged last year in a federal crackdown on illegal gambling tied to professional basketball.
For further reading on the impact of gambling on college sports, refer to this article. More details on NCAA investigations can be found here, and information on a previous federal takedown is available here.
