Steve Richardson, the coordinator of investigations in the Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC has said that if the ‘Match-fixing’ law is introduced in India, it would like a game-changer and a single-most effective element to protect the game from the unfair practices.
India is slated to host two major ICC events between 2021 and 2023, i.e., T20 World Cup 2021 and ODI World Cup in 2023. And these two events would surely be under the radar of the match-fixers and fraudsters. Match-fixing has been a major challenge for the ICC in all these years due to the lack of resources.
In his statement, Richardson urged the Indian government to consider creating a match-fixing law and a panel to monitor that before those global marquee men’s events begin.
“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 corruptions. Richardson further stated.
Ajit Singh, the head of the BCCI‘s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU), is congruent with the same viewpoint, as he added that India also needs a “very strong law” against betting, which is believed is the reason behind the malpractices in the country.
In 2019, Sri Lanka became the major Test-playing Asian nation to have criminalized the match-fixing with a severe punishment consisting 10-year prison sentence.
The ACU body of the ICC helped Sri Lanka cricket governing body to draft the legislation in the wake of extensive investigations leading to the names of the former captain Sanath Jayasuriya as he was found guilty of breaching the corruption code set by the ICC.
