India’s sports minister is seeking a law to criminalize match-fixing after test cricketer Shantakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested for manipulating outcomes in the Indian Premier League.
“It’s necessary that there is a law or a deterrent,” Jitendra Singh told The Associated Press. “There’s no guarantee that this is not happening in other sports, or will not happen in other sports. Who knows, it might have started in other sports as well.”
Charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust have been brought against Mr Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for conceding a fixed minimum number of runs per over in exchange for up to 6 million rupees (US$110,000) from bookmakers for every over.
It’s not the first instance of spot-fixing in India. Last year, little-known all-rounder T.P. Sudhindra was banned for life after being caught in a televised sting agreeing to bowl a no-ball at a predetermined time in a local Twenty 20 game in the city of Indore.
However, there is no specific law in the country that addresses fixing specifically since betting is illegal in the country except on horseracing.
“We’re in touch with the home ministry and the law ministry to work out the law,” Mr Jitendra said. “We’ll consult the attorney-general before moving forward.”
Several bookmakers and their associates have been arrested across the country over the past few weeks in a crackdown that also has netted domestic-level cricketers and even a Bollywood actor, Vindoo Randhawa.
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