The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the governing body to consider shutting down domestic Twenty 20 (T20) leagues over match fixing concerns after a recent match in a small local league attracted £24 million (US$32 million) in betting on Betfair.
Betting on the Tamil Nadu Premier League match between Tuti Patriots and Madurai Panthers was considered so high for a state-level match that Betfair has since stopped taking bets on any matches involving Tuti Patriots.
According to Indian gaming website GLAWS, the ACU recently submitted a report to the BCCI in which it expressed serious misgivings over leagues such as the Tamil Nadu Premier League and requested the BCCI to consider shutting it and other similar leagues down. Betfair itself has already geo-blocked Indian IP addresses.
The ACU is also investigating allegations that a player was approached by a team owner for spot fixing in the T20 Mumbai league.
Sports betting is banned in India but that hasn’t stopped underground sports betting from flourishing with betting turnover, primarily on cricket, estimated to be a massive US$100 billion annually.
