NRL Investigating Top Official Over Ryan Tandy Gambling Scandal

(Associated Press) - The NRL is reportedly investigating allegations its head of football, Todd Greenberg, had knowledge of front-rower Ryan Tandy's gambling on rugby league games while he was chief executive of Canterbury but turned a blind eye to it.

Fairfax Media reports the claims Greenberg was given evidence of Tandy betting on league games but took no action have prompted NRL chief executive Dave Smith to request an investigation.

"These are allegations which go back three years," an NRL official told Fairfax. “However, the NRL takes such issues seriously and is making inquiries into the matter."

The death of Tandy, 32, last month from a drug overdose has shifted focus onto his troubled former first-grader's life and the spot-fixing scandal over which he was convicted and given a life ban from the code.

The fresh claims centre around Greenberg who was CEO at the Bulldogs when Tandy was involved in the game against North Queensland in Townsville and when the prop was subsequently sacked by the club.

The ABC's 7.30 program on Thursday night broadcast allegations that Greenberg was alerted to a series of bets Tandy placed on NRL matches during a meeting at a Homebush cafe with the jockey manager and former Herald journalist John Schell, held four days before the Bulldogs-Cowboys game in August 2010.

An NRL official said Greenberg was adamant there was no mention of Tandy betting on league matches at the meeting. "Mr Greenberg says at no stage during the meeting was there any suggestion or allegation of betting on rugby league matches," the official told Fairfax. "Mr Greenberg categorically dismisses any suggestion otherwise."