Athletes found to have been involved in illegal gambling operations should receive a “five- or 10-year minimum sentence” and lifetime banishment from their sport, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Newsmax on Thursday.
Appearing on “Newsline,” Tuberville, a college football coach for more than three decades, condemned the growing influence of gambling on professional sports after the arrests of NBA coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
“Sports gambling has gotten more prevalent because of the apps on phones, sportsbook agencies,” Tuberville told host Bianca de la Garza. “There’s billions of dollars involved in this.”
The senator called the revelations “a disgrace” and urged sweeping punishments for anyone involved in game-fixing or betting schemes.
“Here’s how you fix it,” he said. “The people that are involved in any kind of sports gaming, fixing, or involved in any way of deciding how a game is played to make money off of you — give them a five- or 10-year minimum sentence, and they’re done participating in that sport.”
Tuberville said harsh penalties are necessary to protect the integrity of American athletics.
“If you don’t do it, they’re going to lose it, just like we’re losing this country,” he said, warning that greed, organized crime, and “cartels” have increasingly infiltrated the sports world.
Federal authorities on Thursday charged Billups, the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Rozier, a Miami Heat guard, in separate criminal cases involving illegal sports betting and poker schemes tied to Mafia crime families.
The Justice Department described the twin indictments as “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online betting became widely legalized.”
Prosecutors allege that Rozier and others used insider information about NBA players and teams to profit off bets, while Billups participated in rigging underground poker games backed by organized crime. Both face charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
Tuberville said the scandal underscores why gambling must remain tightly controlled in professional and collegiate sports.
“I spent 35 years trying to convince my players in college football — if you’re approached by somebody who wants you to do something about a game or you want to gamble on a game, you’ve got to stay away from it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that greed gets involved. But we’ve seen it for years. It’s not going to get any better unless people are punished.”
Tuberville added that beyond criminal penalties, those caught fixing games should be permanently banned from their profession.
“They’re done,” Tuberville said. “No second chances.”
He concluded that preserving public faith in sports requires “zero tolerance” for corruption.
“You can’t play games with people’s trust — or with the game itself,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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