Fearing that semi-professional competitions will be tainted with more match-fixing incidents, National Premier League NSW (NPL NSW) clubs have called on Football Federation Australia (FFA) to ban gambling on state league games.

The call came after APIA Leichhardt, one of NPL NSW’s affiliated teams, claimed that there was misconduct within the competition, with players or staff betting, match-fixing, spot-fixing or providing insider information, according to the news website Sydney Morning Herald.

APIA Leichhardt president Tony Raciti has brought the issue to the Football NSW immediately after allegations of players gambling on results have reached his office. He is convinced that the alleged match-fixing could be taking place in the NPL NSW Division 1.

In his submission to the state body, Raciti urged the FFA to prohibit gambling on semi-professional games, as well as amateur youth football and fall in line with many other codes by restricting match betting to professional tiers.