Make match-fixing a criminal offence in India, says ICC’s ACU Coordinator of Investigations

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Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Make match-fixing a criminal offence, says ICC’s ACU Coordinator | Steve Richardson says match-fixing should be a criminal offence in India

Betting is illegal in India. However, it remains is single highest source of sporting corruption, as cricket continues its fight against match-fixing.

Steve Richardson, Coordinator of Investigations at the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), is pushing for the move to make match-fixing a criminal offence in India. He believes that this would be a “game-changer” and the “single-most-effective thing” to protect not only cricket, but sport in India.

Follow Sri Lanka’s lead

Richardson wants India to follow Sri Lanka’s lead. In 2019, Sri Lanka criminalised match-fixing, introducing 10-year sentences for those found guilty. The ICC’s ACU currently has just under 50 match-fixing investigations on its plate. Most of those are connected back to corruption in India, which Richardson believes is a huge problem as the nation is set to host two huge tournaments in the next three years.

“India has got two ICC global events coming up: the T20 World Cup [in 2021] and the World Cup in 2023,” Richardson said. “At the moment with no legislation in place, we’ll have good relations with Indian police, but they are operating with one hand tied behind their back. We will do everything we can to disrupt the corruptors. And we do, we make life very, very difficult for them as far and as much as we can to stop them from operating freely.

But the legislation would be a game-changer in India. We have currently just under 50 investigations. The majority of those have links back to corruptors in India. So it would be the single-most-effective thing to happen in terms of protecting sport if India introduces match-fixing legislation.”

Also read: How do people bet online in India?

Make match-fixing a criminal offence, says ICC's ACU Coordinator | Steve Richardson says match-fixing should be a criminal offence in India
ICC and BCCI ACU members say that corruption should be criminalised to protect cricket in India.

Worryingly, Richardson, speaking in a panel discussion on the subject ‘Does India need a match-fixing legislation?‘, on June 20, said that he could name at least eight corrupters whom he would class as serial offenders. At the moment, corrupters move around too freely, as there is no legislation in place to deter them from unethical behaviours.

“I could actually deliver to the Indian police or the Indian government now at least eight names of people who are what I would term serial offenders, constantly approaching players to try and get them to fix matches,” said Richardson.

“So the reason that there is an imperative for legislation specific to match-fixing – yes, it is about the players, but more importantly it is about those outside the sport who actually corrupt the players and are organising and pulling the strings of these networks. Those are the people I would like to see dealt with under match-fixing law.”

Head of BCCI’s ACU in agreeance

Ajit Singh, head of the BCCI’s ACU and former police officer, agrees. He believes that India requires a “very strong law” to stamp out corruption, which will see cricket in India benefit greatly.

“So definitely there is a requirement for a law which criminalises match-fixing,” Singh said. Also, Singh said that the roots of match-fixing is betting, which he termed as a “malaise” in India.

“Just to make windfall gains illegally in an illegal way through betting they [corruptors] approach the participants – it could be a player, it could be a curator, it could be a match official, whoever. And the amounts of the money involved are unimaginable.”

Also read: BCCI working on all options to stage IPL this year – Sourav Ganguly

Make match-fixing a criminal offence, says ICC's ACU Coordinator | Steve Richardson says match-fixing should be a criminal offence in India
The IPL is a target for many corrupters, which the ACU is looking to stamp out.

Also, worryingly, corrupters approach up-and-coming players, particularly in rural areas. They then act as a “godfather” to these players, sponsoring them until they become more high-profile, which is when they would then pounce on an opportunity to fix a game of cricket.

“Cricket is played in rural areas and mofussil towns and there are certain godfathers have come to finance them. They see a promising player, finance the player, become his patron, and ultimately what happens is when he is at a level where his games are televised, where he has made it to a certain league, then they extract the pound of flesh. So it needs to be curbed heavily, both at the match-fixing and betting level,” said Singh.

The solution

Both Richardson and Singh believe that 1867 Public Gambling Act needs total reform. Singh referred to the current governance of gambling as “laughable”. Specifically, “right now the law that exists is totally archaic and the punishments in it are laughable. You impose a fine of INR 200 or 500 and that’s the end of it,” said Singh.

Richardson agreed, stating that “it’s quite an anomaly that you can bet INR 500 on the outcome of a match for a side to win/lose in India and that would be illegal. However, if you offer US$30,000 to a player to underperform in that match then there is nothing illegal in that.”

The push to criminalise match-fixing comes as the BCCI is working on all options to stage the IPL in 2020, even if it means staging it outside India.

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