2010 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE BETTING ODDS SHOW LIU XIAOBO AS ODDS-ON FAVOURITE

US President Barack Obama took the Nobel Peace Prize last year and, while a number of people are confident that there were better candidates, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. This year’s contest for the prestigious prize is looking as though Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese intellectual and human-rights advocate, and the European bookmakers fancy him as the odds-on favourite to win the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Liu Xiaobo was detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to eleven years imprisonment on December 25 of last year.
The subversion allegations stem from Xiaobo’s involvement with what’s called Charter 08- a manifesto signed by a number Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists who are calling for further democratization in China. Obviously China’s government isn’t particularly excited about doing that and they’ve begun locking up those who want an expansion of democratic freedoms.
Xiaobo was involved in the Tiannenmen Square protests back in the late 1980s. Popular Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has listed Liu Xiaobo at a 4/5 price to win the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
U2 frontman Bono is the second favourite and Paddy has him trading at a 4/1 price tag while the European Union is priced alongside Mary Robinson at a 12/1 price. For those that don’t know, Mary Robinson is the first female president of Ireland and she is a respected human rights advocate.
Another Chinese democracy advocate, Hu Jia, is priced at 14/1 to win the Nobel Peace Prize while Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader in Zimbabwe, is available at 14/1 as well.
Other notable contenders include the Special Court for Sierra Leone (a great outside bet) at 16/1 and Bishop Charles E. Blake at 20/1. Bill Clinton (who would be considered based on his work in Haiti) is trading at 25/1 but that’s a pretty long shot. SOS-Kinderdorf International is 25/1 to win the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.