A former International Cricket Council chief on Tuesday accused India of fostering corruption in the sport, saying illegal betting in the country was the root cause of the problem.
Ehsan Mani, who headed the ICC between 2003 and 2006, estimated that Sunday's Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan in Dhaka attracted $500 million-worth of bets, but did not say how he had arrived at the figure.
"Unless the betting industry is brought under control in India, you can't stop match-fixing," he told the New Delhi-based Mail Today in an interview.
"There's no doubt that India, certainly Delhi and Mumbai, is the epicentre of cricket betting."
"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," he added.
"You'll find that the risk of corrupting players around the world will reduce significantly."
Mani urged the ICC, headed by federal Indian minister Sharad Pawar, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), to pressure the government to legalise betting.
"It's a matter of how you control it because there's no way, I believe, that it can be stamped out in India. So, if (it) can't be stamped out, how do they control it in a way that it can stop corrupting the game."
Mani, a Pakistani chartered accountant, said India should look at the legal gambling systems in Britain and Australia.
Legal betting firms inform the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) if they encounter suspicious betting patterns, Mani said.
Mani said lucrative Twenty20 tournaments such as the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash in Australia, had emboldened illegal bookies.
"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."
BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla was not available to comment on Mani's remarks.
Cricket has been under a cloud since 2000 when three former captains -- the late Hansie Cronje of South Africa, Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Salim Malik of Pakistan -- were handed life bans for their alleged dealing with bookmakers.
Three Pakistani cricketers were last year jailed in Britain after being found guilty of spot-fixing. Indian bookmakers have often being accused of underhand dealings with players.
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
March 20, 2012
March 11, 2012
Cricket under siege from corrupt bookmakers and a Bollywood star
The International Cricket Council has begun an inquiry into a network of corrupt bookmakers claiming to be able to fix the results of international fixtures and English county games.
The move follows an investigation into match fixing by The Sunday Times, including allegations that bookmakers on the Indian subcontinent have targeted international players, including several in England, using a Bollywood actress.
Officials were alerted by four players who reported her suspicious approaches to them. The investigation shows the sophistication and scale of the corruption and reveals that, despite the recent jailing of three Pakistan international players and an English county bowler for cheating, that cricketing authorities are under siege.
By infiltrating the network of bookmakers and secretly filming meetings, The Sunday Times established that:
Tens of thousands of pounds are on offer to fix matches, typically pound stg. 44,000 ($65,000) to batsmen for slow scoring; pound stg. 50,000 for bowlers who concede runs; and as much as pound stg. 750,000 to players or officials who can guarantee the outcome of a match.
Match fixers boast of recruiting players who come from England, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to throw part, or all, of international fixtures, including last year's World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.
The bookies are increasingly turning their attention to English county games because "nobody monitors them".
Corruption has grown to the point where, according to Indian law enforcement officials, it has become endemic.
The revelation that English county cricket is being targeted will add to concerns raised by the recent jailing of the Essex cricketer Mervyn Westfield. The 23-year-old was given a four-month prison term last month after admitting he had received pound stg. 6000 to concede at least 12 runs in his first over in a 2009 game against Durham.
Undercover reporters working for The Sunday Times captured Vicky Seth, an influential Delhi bookmaker, boasting that he could fix big international events such as Test matches, Twenty20s, and games in both the Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League, adding that "English county cricket is a good new market. They are low-profile matches and nobody monitors them. That's why good money can be made without any hassle if we can get players to play for us".
Another bookie, known as Monubhai, claimed he worked with players from most cricketing nations to fix games, and had recently been offered a chance to sign up New Zealanders.
An ICC spokesman said: "We will launch an inquiry into these serious allegations. Betting on cricket in the legal and illegal markets continues to grow rapidly . . . the threat of corrupters seeking to influence the game has not gone away."
The move follows an investigation into match fixing by The Sunday Times, including allegations that bookmakers on the Indian subcontinent have targeted international players, including several in England, using a Bollywood actress.
Officials were alerted by four players who reported her suspicious approaches to them. The investigation shows the sophistication and scale of the corruption and reveals that, despite the recent jailing of three Pakistan international players and an English county bowler for cheating, that cricketing authorities are under siege.
By infiltrating the network of bookmakers and secretly filming meetings, The Sunday Times established that:
Tens of thousands of pounds are on offer to fix matches, typically pound stg. 44,000 ($65,000) to batsmen for slow scoring; pound stg. 50,000 for bowlers who concede runs; and as much as pound stg. 750,000 to players or officials who can guarantee the outcome of a match.
Match fixers boast of recruiting players who come from England, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to throw part, or all, of international fixtures, including last year's World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.
The bookies are increasingly turning their attention to English county games because "nobody monitors them".
Corruption has grown to the point where, according to Indian law enforcement officials, it has become endemic.
The revelation that English county cricket is being targeted will add to concerns raised by the recent jailing of the Essex cricketer Mervyn Westfield. The 23-year-old was given a four-month prison term last month after admitting he had received pound stg. 6000 to concede at least 12 runs in his first over in a 2009 game against Durham.
Undercover reporters working for The Sunday Times captured Vicky Seth, an influential Delhi bookmaker, boasting that he could fix big international events such as Test matches, Twenty20s, and games in both the Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League, adding that "English county cricket is a good new market. They are low-profile matches and nobody monitors them. That's why good money can be made without any hassle if we can get players to play for us".
Another bookie, known as Monubhai, claimed he worked with players from most cricketing nations to fix games, and had recently been offered a chance to sign up New Zealanders.
An ICC spokesman said: "We will launch an inquiry into these serious allegations. Betting on cricket in the legal and illegal markets continues to grow rapidly . . . the threat of corrupters seeking to influence the game has not gone away."
November 02, 2011
Pakistan spot-fixing scandal: ICC needed News of the World to supply bullets
But match-fixing is a reality with which cricket followers in other countries have learned to cope – or else they have switched off the game altogether.
In the heyday of match-fixing in England, we did not do it for anything so sordid as money. It was good old-fashioned barter: we will lose this championship game if you let us win the Sunday League match. Only on one occasion that I know of was betting involved, and that cannot be revealed here, as the law tends to bat on the side of the fixer.
But from the 1990s, according to Justice Cooke during his summing up, and a few years earlier by other reckonings, fixing for money spread through south Asia – and through quite a few cricketers from other countries who played in south Asia.
Pakistan were first to grasp this stinging nettle. In 1999 their government appointed Justice Qayyum to inquire. As usual there, nothing was straightforward: rumours circulated about the game the judge was playing, and about the pressure the government put on him to make his sentences mild.
Nevertheless, former Pakistan captain Salim Malik was banned for life in 2000. Here at last was certifiable evidence that something was rotten in the state of international cricket.
Malik still lives in Lahore but does little more than play golf, go to his club, and brood – with some reason. He is the only one still carrying the can. All the others shamed and fined by Qayyum have come again, and risen to equal heights of eminence as coaches and commentators, without a single act of contrition.
India came next, and did the best job so far. Their Central Bureau of Investigation did not, like the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, simply wash and wring their hands. The CBI used 'robust' interrogation techniques, firstly to make the Indian bank clerk-turned-bookmaker MK Gupta sing, which he did, like a lark, telling them all about his fixes.
The CBI then grilled the Indian cricketers named by Gupta. Of course, one or two were too famous to be brought down. But at least the Indian captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, and the one-day vice-captain Ajay Jadeja, were banned, and a few more besides. Not that anyone pleaded guilty, as in Pakistan: it would be more than your life was worth to confess.
Unfortunately the CBI could not grill any of the non-Indian players that Gupta had spoken of dealing with. Most Test-playing countries had at least one international player who had dealt with him, and their boards all did an excellent job in blocking like nightwatchmen, until the media went away.
Only the mafia did not go away. The period around 2000 and 2001 when India and Pakistan held inquiries, and when the late Hansie Cronje confessed in South Africa, was the window: the moment when the sport's governing bodies, fired by the indignation of cricket followers, might just have broken the links between the south Asian mafia and the dressing-room. But there were too many skeletons in too many cupboards, the moment passed, and match-fixing became much more discreet, if no less systemic.
The King Inquiry in South Africa was a classic. The terms of reference were so limited that the lid could only be opened a little – and as soon as Cronje made a confession it was closed, so no more damage could be done to the national image. A partial confession too, some would say, as he got no further than exposing a couple of his non-white players, Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams.
Since then, until Tuesday, virtually nothing. In the last decade the ICC has pinned Kenya's captain, Maurice Odumbe, and banned him for five years, but that was for 'associating with a known bookmaker'. The only other player who has been banned (for two years), Marlon Samuels of the West Indies, was guilty of nothing more than naivety in talking to a punter.
The ICC have now equipped themselves to fire shots, but they needed the News of the World to supply the bullets, when their own ACSU should have done so.
In the heyday of match-fixing in England, we did not do it for anything so sordid as money. It was good old-fashioned barter: we will lose this championship game if you let us win the Sunday League match. Only on one occasion that I know of was betting involved, and that cannot be revealed here, as the law tends to bat on the side of the fixer.
But from the 1990s, according to Justice Cooke during his summing up, and a few years earlier by other reckonings, fixing for money spread through south Asia – and through quite a few cricketers from other countries who played in south Asia.
Pakistan were first to grasp this stinging nettle. In 1999 their government appointed Justice Qayyum to inquire. As usual there, nothing was straightforward: rumours circulated about the game the judge was playing, and about the pressure the government put on him to make his sentences mild.
Nevertheless, former Pakistan captain Salim Malik was banned for life in 2000. Here at last was certifiable evidence that something was rotten in the state of international cricket.
Malik still lives in Lahore but does little more than play golf, go to his club, and brood – with some reason. He is the only one still carrying the can. All the others shamed and fined by Qayyum have come again, and risen to equal heights of eminence as coaches and commentators, without a single act of contrition.
India came next, and did the best job so far. Their Central Bureau of Investigation did not, like the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, simply wash and wring their hands. The CBI used 'robust' interrogation techniques, firstly to make the Indian bank clerk-turned-bookmaker MK Gupta sing, which he did, like a lark, telling them all about his fixes.
The CBI then grilled the Indian cricketers named by Gupta. Of course, one or two were too famous to be brought down. But at least the Indian captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, and the one-day vice-captain Ajay Jadeja, were banned, and a few more besides. Not that anyone pleaded guilty, as in Pakistan: it would be more than your life was worth to confess.
Unfortunately the CBI could not grill any of the non-Indian players that Gupta had spoken of dealing with. Most Test-playing countries had at least one international player who had dealt with him, and their boards all did an excellent job in blocking like nightwatchmen, until the media went away.
Only the mafia did not go away. The period around 2000 and 2001 when India and Pakistan held inquiries, and when the late Hansie Cronje confessed in South Africa, was the window: the moment when the sport's governing bodies, fired by the indignation of cricket followers, might just have broken the links between the south Asian mafia and the dressing-room. But there were too many skeletons in too many cupboards, the moment passed, and match-fixing became much more discreet, if no less systemic.
The King Inquiry in South Africa was a classic. The terms of reference were so limited that the lid could only be opened a little – and as soon as Cronje made a confession it was closed, so no more damage could be done to the national image. A partial confession too, some would say, as he got no further than exposing a couple of his non-white players, Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams.
Since then, until Tuesday, virtually nothing. In the last decade the ICC has pinned Kenya's captain, Maurice Odumbe, and banned him for five years, but that was for 'associating with a known bookmaker'. The only other player who has been banned (for two years), Marlon Samuels of the West Indies, was guilty of nothing more than naivety in talking to a punter.
The ICC have now equipped themselves to fire shots, but they needed the News of the World to supply the bullets, when their own ACSU should have done so.
November 09, 2007
Diwali betting a boon for punters
Bookies and gamblers are likely to engage in hectic activity during the second one-day international match between India and Pakistan on Thursday. The fact that it is being held during Diwali when betting activities form part of traditional festivity in the country is only adding to it.
Some local bookies, according to sources, have already thrown offers open accepting bets on favourite India, which is pegged at around 75 paise against the visitors arch-rival Pakistan’s 80 paise. "Initially, India would be a favourite but fluctuations are likely to take place as the match progresses," said an insider. "The toss would be crucial and lot of bets would follow the toss decision in the morning," added the source.
Though most of the bookies have preferred to remain underground or shift outside the city limits, the gambling season has thrown them an opportunity of making big business prior to Diwali.
"Lots of gambling enthusiasts have already started preparing as a part of the traditional festivity. The match between India and Pakistan has only enhanced the mood before Diwali," said a source.
Apart from cricket betting, sources claimed that gambling would be a major activity in the city over the Diwali weekend. "Several enthusiasts are booking hotel rooms, resorts and also organising parties at private premises to gamble. An astronomical amount of cash is likely to change hands," said an insider.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Diwali_betting_a_boon_for_punters/articleshow/2527099.cms
Some local bookies, according to sources, have already thrown offers open accepting bets on favourite India, which is pegged at around 75 paise against the visitors arch-rival Pakistan’s 80 paise. "Initially, India would be a favourite but fluctuations are likely to take place as the match progresses," said an insider. "The toss would be crucial and lot of bets would follow the toss decision in the morning," added the source.
Though most of the bookies have preferred to remain underground or shift outside the city limits, the gambling season has thrown them an opportunity of making big business prior to Diwali.
"Lots of gambling enthusiasts have already started preparing as a part of the traditional festivity. The match between India and Pakistan has only enhanced the mood before Diwali," said a source.
Apart from cricket betting, sources claimed that gambling would be a major activity in the city over the Diwali weekend. "Several enthusiasts are booking hotel rooms, resorts and also organising parties at private premises to gamble. An astronomical amount of cash is likely to change hands," said an insider.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Diwali_betting_a_boon_for_punters/articleshow/2527099.cms
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