NRL chief Todd Greenberg has defended the NRL’s partnership with a betting agency in the wake of the latest match-fixing allegations relating to Tigers centre Tim Simona.
Simona is alleged to have placed bets on opposition players last year which is being investigated by a NSW Police strike force.
The NRL completed a $60 million deal with Sportsbet in 2016 making the bookmaker the game’s official betting partner which included a percentage of turnover contract.
Simona is expected to have his contract torn up and receive a life ban from the NRL.
"There is a really strong balance here," Greenberg said during an interview with ABC News 24 aired on Sunday.
"I made some strong comments last year you'll remember about anyone involved in match fixing or gambling inside the game against the rules will face life bans and I stand by that because that really cuts to the absolute core of the integrity of the sport. For you and I to turn up every week to watch that contest, we need to know that's pure. Anyone who gets in the way of that will absolutely not be welcome back.

"But we do have to find a balance because people, particularly in this country, they love to have a bet. And we're not going to get away from that. So whether or not we have branding or not, people are still going to be looking to have a wager on the game.
"What we need to do, though, (is) we need to talk and market ourselves to those people who want to do that. We've got to make sure that we're very fundamental in how we have principles around those sorts of agreements. We're trying very hard in this space.
"There are a lot of my friends, a lot of your friends, who really enjoy to have a punt on a weekend, whether it's football, whether it's cricket or the horses. A lot of people in Australia enjoy punting. It's a difficult way to find this balance between enjoying the game but also making sure we're responsible."
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