Tim Simona’s ex-partner allegedly received ‘death threats’ after betting scandal
MARCH 1, 20178:21PM
TIM Simona’s NRL betting scandal has taken a fresh new turn after it was revealed his ex-partner had been allegedly receiving death threats on social media.
Simona was caught in a wave of controversy after he allegedly had associates place bets on opposition players he was marking to score the first try.
The Australian’s Brent Read said the NRL had revealed Simona’s ex-partner’s to be at the centre of the allegations, and had been receiving a tirade of abuse on social media.
“The NRL have confirmed today that the woman at the centre of these allegations is Tim Simona’s former partner, who has been identified in certain quarters as the ‘whistleblower’ of this whole thing, has received death threats,” Read told Triple M’s Dead Set Legends on Wednesday.
The threats allegedly came from social media, however no examples of a direct death threat have been found by the NRL.
The NRL allegedly told Simona’s partner to contact police.
The Wests Tigers centre was previously called to front league officials in September last year, where he denied the allegations against him.
“He’ll be rubbed out for life on Friday,” NRL journalist Paul Kent said on Fox Sports NRL 360\. “The NRL is in possession of evidence that he was backing opposition players to be first tryscorer in games he was playing.”
“Todd Greenberg came out last year very strongly and said that anybody caught match fixing will not have a place in the game.”
Melbourne master coach Craig Bellamy has called for the NRL to get even tougher on exotic betting markets following the Tim Simona saga.
Wests Tigers centre Simona will this week appear before the NRL at Rugby League Central to answer allegations he bet on NRL matches.
The 25-year-old is facing a possible life ban as the governing body last year moved to eradicate several exotic betting markets in a bid to eradicate the chance of results and game-play being manipulated.
However premiership-winning coach Bellamy said the NRL’s crackdown didn’t go far enough and would welcome even tighter restrictions.
“It’s a real good move and I’m a bit surprised that they took so long to do it,” Bellamy said.
“They could probably go a little bit further too … a few more restrictions on what you can and can’t bet on.
“I’m not much of a punter. Some of those exotic bets are way over the top and can be manipulated way too easy.”
Simona is facing allegations he bet on players he was marking to be first try scorer.
Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett denied the game’s associations with bookmakers had become too great, saying players were well educated and it was up to them to make good decisions.
“Some people never learn their lessons,” Bennett said.
“There will always be someone with an indiscretion.
“But the good thing to know as a fan is that the game is doing a lot of things about this stuff, it is not just being swept under the carpet.”
Under the NRL’s betting guidelines no player or official can bet on any matches. The NRL in December told betting agencies to scrap a number of novelty markets including head-to-head player bets, most runs, most metres, most number of 40-20s and most tackles.
Betting on under-20s matches has also been banned.
Last month NRL boss Greenberg vowed to come down hard on anyone found in breach of the game’s betting code.
Asked if he would hesitate to ban anyone for life, Greenberg said: “There are massive penalties in place for players that do the wrong thing and the integrity of the game is central to that.
“If and when we need to make some hard decisions, we’ll make them.”
