A leading anti-corruption crusader has issued a reminder of the dangers of links between athletes and crime figures after NRL players Corey Norman, Junior Paulo and James Segeyaro were officially warned by NSW police for allegedly consorting with convicted criminals.

Police delivered the warnings on Wednesday after Fairfax Media's publication of a photo of the trio dining with former bikies boss Paulie Younan and alleged fraudster and money launderer Rafat Alameddine at the Century restaurant at The Star casino.

Three years ago a report from the Australian Crime Commission flagged the potential for associations between athletes and organised crime figures to lead to match fixing, and Chris Eaton, who is integrity adviser to the president of the International Centre of Sports Security, argues those risk remain in Australia.

"There has been a historical relationship between street criminality and contact sports. [The criminals] covet particularly contact sports ... boxing, the football codes ... because it brings the power circle that criminals love," said Eaton, a former head of security at FIFA.

"But the modern risk is exacerbated by the introduction of massive amounts of gambling on all sports and therefore the simple attraction beginning with a paid-for meal, perhaps a hotel room or a holiday, and a bit of spending money and that's how they start to ingratiate themselves and get themselves into these players' groups. It's a well-known tactic in eastern Europe and Asia and it's proved very successful in some sporting codes because of the vulnerability of players to cash. Underpaid performers or perhaps players who have a problem with gambling who have a high money turnover ... they are vulnerable, and the actions of police and administrators in cautioning players how to behave in public places and how to protect themselves from being compromised is a very important part of modern sport administration."

In its report on Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport released three years ago, the ACC "identified an increasing number of associations of concern between professional athletes and organised criminal identities in Australia".

"Relationships between athletes and organised crime identities can be exploited by criminals to corrupt the athlete and give a form of social status to the criminal, in the same way that the steroid market has been used by organised crime to corrupt law enforcement officers," the report concluded. "Overseas experience has also demonstrated that criminal identities and groups will invest years developing such relationships, with the ultimate aim of having the athlete participate in activities such as match fixing."

Serious concern: Malcolm Speed. Photo: Getty Images

Malcolm Speed, the executive director of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, said Australia's major codes were aware of the need to ensure their players did not mix with the wrong crowds. "Australian sports have a serious concern about integrity issues and impress on their players the importance of being careful about their association with people who may have links to organised crime," said Speed, who sits on the COMPPS Integrity Committee alongside the likes of NRL integrity unit chief Nick Weeks, Cricket Australia anti-corruption manager Sean Carroll and AFL integrity services manager Brett Clothier.

"Generally, in the professional codes the clubs now have integrity officers or integrity committees who are reinforcing this message and seeking to minimise the possibility of players engaging with known crime figures who pose an integrity risk."