The dark shadow of match-fixing and booking has engulfed the Indian cricket scene once more, as the Tamil Nadu Premier League has come under the scanner of BCCI’s Anti-Corruption unit with fresh allegations of match-fixing.
However, the BCCI-ACU chief Ajit Singh feels that it's only the newcomers and vulnerable players that fall prey to bookies and matchmakers. He says that someone like MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli can never be approached by bookies, as it is clear that they won’t be persuaded to do anything wrong.
He said, "If you ask me, today in cricket, a star has much more to lose than gain if he gets involved in this. Imagine a Virat Kohli or Dhoni getting into this. Things don't just move by money, it is also the reputation that counts. They can't sacrifice their reputation for such things. They are far bigger than all this.”
"Even if you are talking just in financial terms, do you think they will get involved -- both in terms of the endorsement that they get because of their reputation and star power, as also the other benefits that they get. Betting wouldn't give them a small percentage of that money,” Singh added.
Singh also explained the new ways bookies are branching out in cricket in order to make money.
He mentions, "These people (fixers and bookies) are looking at whatever opportunities they can get. If they can't get into any tournament, they start their own leagues. They are now moving to new countries and in the name of promoting the sport, they organize tournaments and get teams. They pretend to be working for the game. You can't stop someone from organizing a tournament because this is a free country. But what BCCI can do is say this is not recognized so registered players won't go. Still, some young players fall for this. Sometimes, they also get players from outside to promote the league and make them ambassadors and stuff."
"The challenge before us is that majority of the corrupters are of Indian origin and they have started going out, which in turn shows that they are feeling the pressure in India and moving out which is a success for BCCI," he further pointed out.
Talking about the solution to the problem, Ajit Singh said that apart from legalizing betting, corruption in sports needs to be made a criminal offense. "Right now, corruption in sports is not such a big offense in India. Things will change if that is changed because it will give the police a clear cut law to rope them in. Some interpretation of the existing law needs to be put into effect in a way that it covers the area. If it is based on interpretation then everyone has their own interpretations," he rued.
(IANS inputs)
