Legalize betting in India to eliminate corruption from the game, insists http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ehsan-Mani-c55791 - Cricket News Update
The former International Cricket Council’s president, Ehsan Mani, on Tuesday said that illegal betting in India was the root cause of the increasing corruption in cricket.
While speaking to the media reporters, Mani said that without regularising the betting industry in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 as the epicentres of cricket betting.
"Unless the betting industry is brought under control in India, you can't stop match-fixing," said the former president of the ICC, who headed the apex body between 2003 and 2006.
"There's no doubt that India, certainly http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 and Mumbai, is the epicentre of cricket betting," he added further.
There have been growing talks for the need to legalise betting internationally to eliminate the element of corruption from the game. Mani said that he himself is a strong advocate of legalising betting in India, adding that it will significantly reduce the
risk of players being bribed.
"I'm a strong advocate of legalising betting in India, and bringing it under control of regulatory authorities so that... the conduct of bookies can be monitored properly," said the former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 chief, revealing Sunday’s Asia Cup match between arch rivals
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and India attracted bets worth $500 million.
Mani, a Pakistani chartered accountant, feels that the lucrative domestic Twenty20 tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Big Bash League (BBL) have played a key role in promoting corruption in the sport.
"Obviously, high profile matches like the IPL and Big Bash leave a lot of scope for players to be corrupted; whether they are being corrupted or not, I can't say," he said.
"I think IPL must have added hugely to the cricket betting industry in India."
The current top brass of the International Cricket Council has got a number of officials from India, especially the incumbent president http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sharadchandra-Govindrao-Pawar-c89751. Mani has urged Pawar, who is also a federal minister In India besides being a former BCCI president, to
pressurise the Indian government to legalise betting in the country.
In the recent past there have been cases of cricketers admitting that they have been illegal approached by bookmakers.
Tags: