articles

Link to Kowalski death threats proves elusive

By Michael Cowley, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 16th July 1996

NO LINK can be found between death threats to Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski and any of Australia's leading sports betting agencies.

It was thought the death threats - made to Kowalski during the grand prix swimming series in July last year - were connected to betting on Kowalski's main rival Kieren Perkins.

Kowalski was interviewed by the US magazine Sports Illustrated for its special Olympic edition published this week, and during the interview he revealed that he had received death threats.

Kowalski was told: "If you win [again], you're dead."

But while each agency denied taking bets, or even taking enquiries on betting on the grand prix swimming, that did not rule out gambling as a motive.

"Nobody bet on it legally in Australia," said Bryan Clark of the Darwin-based Sportsbet yesterday.

"If it was done, then it was done with illegal bookmakers, but unfortunately nobody can check on that."

Gerard Daffy of CentreBet in Alice Springs, disputed the suggestion that gambling was behind the death threats.

"Whoever said gambling was behind the death threats is kidding themselves," Daffy said.

"We don't bet on those things unless people ring us and request it, and then it's only a $20 or at the most a $50 bet.

"If someone rings up and wants to have $2,000 or $3,000 or $5,000 on it, we won't do it.

"With those sort of bets there is no way of us getting our money back like that. It's not like golf or tennis where there's another event the following week for us to get even."

Wayne Monaghan from Tassie Sports said his bookmaking firm had dabbled in betting on swimming events, but only on major events, and not the grand prix series.

Like Daffy and Clark, he said he has had no contact with the police over the matter, and also suspected that if betting was done it would have been done "underground."

Article orignally located on the FairFax site