Betting without tax would be excellent news for backers, but potentially disastrous for racing's finances.And it is already possible to bet tax-free on British racing, via a web- site run from Oxford by a firm called Interbet. At present, it is charged at nine per cent, but within that figure is the bookies' contribution to the racing Levy, which is passed on to the punters. Already, for example, British music lovers have started to discover that even when postage is taken into account, it can be cheaper to buy CDs online from America than in the local branch of HMV.If you can shop on the Net, then you can also bet on the Net - indeed, since it involves nothing more than money transfers, betting is in theory easier than shopping. And, crucially, if you can bet with a web-site based outside Britain, then you can do so without paying tax.Ever since betting shops were legalised in the early 1960s, the "bees wax" has been an inescapable fact of life for British punters. Nowhere is this more true than on the Web, which already links tens of millions of people around the world and adds thousands more to its extended family every day. Shopping on the Internet is still in its infancy, but the volume of business which takes place in cyberspace is also growing.
That statement may one day turn out to have been a wild exaggeration, but then again, the one certain thing about modern technology is that no-one can predict precisely how, or even how quickly, it will change the world. But a possibility that should perhaps be exercising racing's administrators is that the same technology, could yet begin to undermine the very foundations of the industry. As a new millennium approaches, even the Club itself now has a web site, which allows surfers from every corner of the planet to read the latest rulings by the Disciplinary Committee (there are, after all, some very strange people in cyberspace). THERE ARE probably more than a few members of the Jockey Club who regard computers as the work of the Devil - and the funny thing is, they might be right. BT's deal, the first of its kind at Hampden, will last until the year 2008 and will fund additional building work as well as improving the playing surface.. The Wales coach, Bobby Gould, who has lost Mark Pembridge and John Hartson, the West Ham striker, because of injury, has also called up Paul Trollope, the Fulham midfielder, and the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper, Mark Crossley.Gould is expected to promote Norwich's Craig Bellamy from the Under-21 match against the Italians at Wrexham.Roy Keane has been given the nod over Steve Staunton and will captain the Republic of Ireland in their opening qualifier against Croatia at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.n British Telecom have been revealed as the pounds 5m sponsors of Hampden Park, Glasgow's new-look international stadium.
The West Bromwich defender, who has missed much of the last two seasons with hamstring, thigh and knee injuries, has played only 20 minutes of international football - as a 70th-minute substitute against Germany in Cardiff in 1996. IAIN JENKINS, the Dundee United full-back, has become the third player to withdraw through injury from Northern Ireland's squad for their difficult opening European Championship qualifying Group Three match in Turkey on Saturday Jenkins has a hamstring injury. Lawrie McMenemy will not call a replacement into his squad, but the coach has brought in Watford's uncapped midfielder, Peter Kennedy, to help fill the gap left by the injury to the captain, Steve Lomas. Hamann has flown back to Germany to receive further treatment.. When Wednesday decided to part company with Atkinson in May, Shreeves was assured of a place in the new managerial set-up.But Danny Wilson, the new Sheffield Wednesday manager, has decided to appoint Frank Barlow as his assistant, which has prompted Shreeves' decision to leave Hillsborough.Dietmar Hamann, the Newcastle midfielder, will be out of action for two months after suffering ligament damage in Sunday's 4-1 defeat against Liverpool.The German international, signed from Bayern Munich in the summer, limped out of the St James' Park game after just 12 minutes before Newcastle collapsed in Ruud Gullit's first game in charge. I can't understand what all the fuss is about, all they've done is rehash a bit of his [Adams'] biography."Peter Shreeves, the Sheffield Wednesday assistant manager, has left the club by mutual consent.
The former Spurs manager, who worked as Glenn Hoddle's assistant at Chelsea, joined the Owls in the summer of 1996, and was initially working under David Pleat.Following Pleat's departure last November, Shreeves had a brief spell as caretaker manager and was then retained by Pleat's successor, Ron Atkinson. In fact I had to twist his arm to get him to leave training an hour early to come down for the meeting. He describes Gascoigne's reaction when he was left out of England's World Cup squad by the coach, Glenn Hoddle. "Gazza was an ill man and Glenn did not understand properly the illness of addiction, even if he tried to deal with it the best way he could," wrote Adams, a former alcoholic who has sought help through Alcoholics Anonymous.But Stein said: "The only thing Paul's addicted to is playing football. The England coach would not make a rebuttal of the criticisms, but said: "There is not a problem between Tony and myself, there never has been and I can't see a problem in the future."Tony's entitled to his opinion and he has said a lot of positive things but nobody wants to report that It's not affected the players. And two weeks ago a close friend of the former Lazio player died in his hotel room after a night out with Gascoigne near Newcastle.But, despite the continuing controversy surrounding his client, Stein believes he is focused entirely on the job at hand, namely keeping Middlesbrough in the Premiership."Paul was in my office for five hours recently and he was very, very focused.
He played on Saturday and I'm told, by people who were there and don't have an axe to grind, that he actually had a good game and was the most creative person on the pitch."The news follows controversial revelations in Hoddle's own World Cup book about Gascoigne's reaction to being told he had been left out of the squad for France earlier this summer. PAUL GASCOIGNE'S adviser, Mel Stein, yesterday denied suggestions that the Middlesbrough player had a drink problem and insisted: "The only thing he's addicted to is football." Tony Adams, Gascoigne's England colleague, suggests in his autobiography Addicted that the former Rangers player was suffering from the "illness of addiction". Rix said: "We wanted to use him in a year or two's time, in some capacity, in the club and we thought it would be an ideal situation with him still being available as a player, being on the inside and learning management skills."But this opportunity has come up and you know he has got to go. If he has got anything about him or any ambition - which he has - then he has got to accept it."It's a loss for us, there is no doubt about that.