SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is lobbying the NCAA to reverse its recent move to lift the ban on athletes being allowed to gamble on professional sports, calling the new policy a “major step in the wrong direction.”

Last week, the NCAA announced that athletes in all three NCAA divisions would be allowed starting Saturday to place legal wagers on professional sports without affecting their eligibility. Sankey disagreed with the change, and said so in a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker, which was obtained by several media outlets on Tuesday.

“The integrity of competition is directly threatened when anyone with insider access becomes involved in gambling,” Sankey wrote. “Even when the wagers are placed on professional sports, the simple act of participating in gambling normalizes b

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