NEW YORK - A review of the NBA's officiating program found no evidence of illegal activity by any referee other than Tim Donaghy, though it recommended significant changes for monitoring gambling and game integrity.

The report, compiled over 14 months by former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz and released Thursday, called for the creation of a "culture of compliance" and closer monitoring of games for suspicious activity.

Pedowitz made three recommendations to the league: Create a hot line to anonymously raise questions about gambling and game integrity; make available complaints the league gets about refs -- beginning in the 2008-09 playoffs -- to both teams to avoid suspicions of bias; provide more access to referees for fans and media.

The report also suggests mandatory gambling education for players. "We believe that gambling can expose the players and the League to significant risks, and therefore it is important that players be educated regarding those risks," the report says.

Boston Celtics players Paul Pierce and Ray Allen agreed that gambling is an issue that should be addressed.

"Throughout the years, we have a number of different meetings. ... A gambling meeting wouldn't hurt," Allen said from training camp in Newport, R.I. "I think it's just as important to educate the guys to make sure they don't give money away that you've worked hard for and you want to continue to work hard for. The education would definitely help."

Pedowitz said that if he owned a team, he wouldn't even want his players taking part in card games on the team plane.

"The sickness of compulsive gambling can affect many people. ... We worry about players," Pedowitz said during a conference call. "This can ruin your life."

Commissioner David Stern ordered the investigation last year after former referee Donaghy was charged with betting on games he officiated and providing inside information to gambling associates to win their bets. He's serving a 15-month sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce.

Some of the recommendations have already been implemented, and Stern said he will urge his owners to approve the rest of them at the league's Board of Governors meetings this month.

"We will be up there with the very best, and no one will have a better system than we do," he said. "All of that said, the idea that criminal activity will exist every place else in the world except sports is something that we can't guarantee. But we're going to have the most effective system that's ever been devised."

The report agreed with the federal government that there was no evidence that Donaghy made any calls to affect the outcome of games after studying his work in 17 of them, including 16 during the 2006-07 season in which it was thought Donaghy made picks.

Pedowitz's firm conducted more than 200 interviews with referees, and team and league personnel during an investigation that cost several million dollars to complete the 116-page report.

The report's release was delayed as Donaghy's case dragged on, so some of the changes Pedowitz suggested already have been made, such as the restructuring of the referees operations department and the clarifying of rules involving casino gambling.

Stern already was aware through Pedowitz's interviews that nearly all his referees had violated some form of the gambling rules, so Stern said last year he would change them to make them more easily enforceable. Previously, referees only were allowed to gamble at a race track during the offseason and couldn't enter the gaming section of a casino.

Referees are now allowed in the offseason to bet at a race track, off-track betting establishment or casino -- though still not the sports book. However, a referee must notify the league's security department within 24 hours of placing such a bet.

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