BCCI-ACU chief Ajit Singh Shekhawat calls for legalization of betting in India to curb corruption in cricket

Betting and match-fixing have become big demons for the game of cricket. Many of big-name cricketers have fallen prey to the lure of money and got corrupted in the process. Some names like Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin, Salim Malik, Shane Warne, and Mark Waugh were proven to be involved in this muddle.

Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt’s involvement in the spot-fixing during the 2010 Pakistan vs England series opened the world to new ways how the bookies and fixers are entering into the world of cricket and eating it from inside. Even U19 players and mushrooming T20 leagues all the world have reported approaches from fixers and bookies and the BCCI Anti-Corruption unit is currently investigating issues of fixing in Tamil Nadu Premier League 2019.

ACU chief suggests a tough match-fixing law to curb corruption in Cricket  

Ajit Singh Shekhawat, former Director-General of Police in Rajasthan and current BCCI-ACU chief talked-about cases of match-fixing and betting emerging from the leagues of Mumbai, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu this year. “It is not unstoppable. We probably require a law against it, a match-fixing law. If there is a clear law against it, the police will also have a clear-cut role,” Shekhawat was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

England and Australia have legalized betting in their country since a long time and have very strict laws for match-fixing and the Law Commission of India had expressed to make these actions a criminal offense, last year. He mentioned once betting is legalized, data can be used in order to keep an eye on illegal betting and how much money flows in the process. This can be used to make illegal betting tougher. Right now, someone caught for fixing just gets a fine of a few hundreds or a few thousands.

In February, even a woman cricketer reported an approach to BCCI which led to ICC conducting an inquiry. “If they find out that it is getting tough to make headway in men’s cricket, they may try to go to women’s cricket. If that is also tough, they may try the state leagues and if that is also proving to be tough, they may they have their own league like it was in the case of Rajputana league,” Shekhawat further said.

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