Betting and Match-fixing Expected to be Higher in IPL 2020, BCCI Employs Sportradar
As the Indian Premier League 2020 kickstarted on 19th September, it is expected that the Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) of the Board For Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) will have higher illegal betting and match๊-fixing to worry about this seas🍸on.
BCCI has done away with integrity officers attached with each IPL team this💜 season, as per a in Mumbai Mirror. Last year, the BCCI also parted with the Anti-corruption unit of International Cricket Council that monitor IPL games, due to heavy costs invol𝔉ved, and will engage with the local Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to supervise the security of IPL 2020 games. All this is music to the ears of bookies and punters in India.
As per a in SportsKeeda, BCCI has decided to use advanced data analytics through Sportradar to detect spot-fixing in IPL 2020, safeguardingꦯ the tournament’s integrity.
Last year, a game between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super K🌺ings got bets of Rs. 695 crore on UK-sanctioned betting website🌼s. Often, betting and match-fixing are intertwined, affecting the integrity of the game.
The be♋tting industry in India came to a halt with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bookkeepers and punters in India have had much reason to celebrate since August 4, when the Indian Premier League Governing Council c💫onfirmed that IPL 2020 would be held in Dubai from Septembe🌃r 19.
As per the Newsclick report, a bookkeeper said, ‘🎃ღ“IPL ki khabar sun ke bada sakoon hua. Hamara dhanda jo thaap pada hua tha, phir se chalu ho jayega. Hamey bhi apna aur ladko ka pet palna hai (It’s a big relief to hear the news of the IPL. Our business, which had come to a standstill, will start again. After all, we also have to feed our families and look after the boys who work for us).”
“This year, the freeze on liv꧋e sports due to the pandemic has created a lot of pent up demand for betting. Despite the economic slowdown, we expect an explosion in betting. We feel that the monies involved in the 2020 IPL will be significantly more than last year,” he added.
Neeraj Kumar, the former Commissioner of Delhi Police and an advisor to ACS🍌U 🏅with BCCI, says that Dubai is a safe haven for the kingpins of match-fixing, and hence BCCI will need to exercise greater vigilance in IPL 2020 to prevent players being “approached” by such match fixers.
Neeraj was one of leading officers who busted the 2013 IPL match-fixing scandal ཧthat led to the arrest of S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and A🍌nkit Chavan of Rajasthan Royals.
“I feel that the proportionality of attempts at fixing will be quite high because the stakes involved this time will be very high. But💎 to what ext𓂃ent these attempts will be successful will depend on the level of policing,” Neeraj told Newsclick.
As per a in Newsclick, India has a large 👍illegal betting market, with various 🔯underground betting syndicates.
In 2012, a Federation of Indian𝔍 Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) paper quoting KPMG stated that the betting market in India was at Rs. 3,00,000 crore per annum, which, if legalised and taxed, could lead to revenue earning potential of Rs12,000 to Rs. 19,000 crore. In 2016, Doha-based International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) estimated India’s illegal betting sector at Rs. 990,000 crore ($150 billion approx), of which more than 80% comprꦯises betting on cricket.
Even though the world of betting is going digital world over, the illegal bookkeepers in India keep meticulous analog records of each bet and transaction. A ledger called Lal Kitaab or red book is maintained in code by each bookkeeper, who is the only one with the key to those codes﷽. Hawala operato💝rs help move large sums of bets and winnings in the system spread across the nation and internationally.
“On one betting website alone, around $5 million (Rs 37 crore) per IPL game used to be put up on stake. You can imagine how much money would have been involved if all betting websites are taken into account. Mi𓆏nd you, this was on just those betting websites that are legal in other parts of the world. It is difficult to fathom how much money is involved in India’s illegal betting market,” Neeraj says.
A 75-page analysis titled ‘CBI’S Report On Cricket Match Fixing And Related Malpractices’ highlighted the lukewarm response of BCCI’s to match-fixing, “Although, there is no concrete evidence to suggest the direct involvement of any of the members of the BCCI in match-fixing, their resolute indifference does give rise to suspicion that there was perhaps more than that meets the eye. It defies credulity to believe that the apex body was oblivious to such rampant match-fixing and, th𒈔erefore, did not find the need to investi🔴gate thoroughly the results of matches which are patently questionable.”
As pe🌱r the SportsKeeda report, BCCI has employed Sportradar, this IPL season, to provide data-driven insights to BCCI’s Anti-corruption unit that traditionally monitors players and of𒊎ficials during the tournament.
Sportradar offers data-driven insights 🎐base♐d on betting activities occurring in the global market to be used with on-field activities to raise any potential flags.
Last year, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI’s) Anti Corruption Unit head Ajit Singh Shekhawat suggested that legalising betting and bringing a strong law against cheating in sport would help in tackling issues of match-fixing in cricket.
Stay tuned for more IPL 2020 betting news and tips.
