Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto recently opened up about his NHL ban in a podcast interview. Pinto revealed that he was banned for proxy betting, having used friends in the US to place bets on his behalf.
Proxy Betting
Shane Pinto grabbed headlines last October when he became one of the first NHL players to be suspended for online gambling activities. Details surrounding the ban were sparse, with the NHL only revealing that Pinto had not been betting on NHL games.
In an interview on the ‘Empty Netters’ podcast, Pinto added some clarity to the situation, stating that he had been using friends in the US to place bets on his behalf. He said, “I wasn’t a Canadian citizen, so I couldn’t really use a Canadian sportsbook. So I just had many buddies place bets for me, and that’s proxy betting, so that’s obviously a big no-no. It was an illegal act, so, obviously, it was a pretty big deal.”
Pinto continued by saying that he didn’t fight the suspension because he knew it was illegal. As such, he accepted the penalty and the suspension. He was suspended last October, returning to play for the Ottawa Senators in January this year.
Sports Betting in the Spotlight
Less than a year after Pinto’s suspension, the role of sports betting in North American sports has never been more scrutinised. Last week, former Toronto Raptors’ star Jontay Porter pled guilty to sports betting breaches after receiving a lifetime ban from the NBA. Porter described himself as being ‘in over his head’ with gambling.
Elsewhere in Canada, Canadian Football League player Shawn Lemon is serving a ban while he awaits a hearing following allegations he had been betting on league games.
As the American and Canadian markets continue to grow, no doubt more of these cases will continue to emerge.
