Indian govt game to legalize gambling in sports?

[mastana]

BANGALORE: The Union government is seriously looking into the possibility of legalizing sports gambling. It is examining gambling regulations in other countries, particularly the UK and the US, in a clear response to the growing clamour for betting to be legalized. The sports ministry believes that cricket has such a cult following it should be legal for fans to bet on everything concerning the game. The government is also seen to be driven by the prospect of huge revenue earnings from bets placed and the taxes levied. The end result could be more money for sports development. The ministry is studying Britain's Gambling Act 2005, which updated the country's laws on gambling and introduced checks and balances to protect children. The accent is on understanding the British act's efficacy and ramifications once adapted to Indian conditions. Ministry sources told TOI, "The aim is to ascertain whether legalized betting can exist in India without the stigma that is attached to it now. So, we are looking at the pros and cons with great care. The UK model seems rather comprehensive." Sources said the process is at a nascent stage and will have to pass several tests before it is implemented. Ministry sources told TOI that the process would, however, take time as it would have to pass from bureaucratic level to the Cabinet before it implementation by the home ministry. The Gambling Commission regulates Britain's thriving industry and deals with all forms of gambling including bingo, casinos, the lottery, scratch cards and sports. This last means betting on horse and greyhound racing. All of this was made possible by the 2005 Act, an all-encompassing version of the Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 and the 1968 Gaming Act. The ministry will also examine horse racing here in India to check if the model needs to be tweaked. Sources said, "We are keen on legislation as soon as possible. At the same time, it cannot be hurried through because we need to convince all about the need to legalize betting". The biggest hurdle would be the fact that gambling is taboo in India. Another problem is the rationale that legalizing betting will not root out illegal betting syndicates or match-fixing. "But nowhere in the world do governments claim that legalized betting spells an end to match-fixing, " the sources argued. "They run on parallel tracks. The latest incident of spot-fixing has happened in England. We are only looking at regulating the industry."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/Govt-game-to-legalize-gambling-in-sports/articleshow/6493623.cms

[ina_jawaan]

And about time too! The only reason corruption, match fixing, bribery and blackmail are rife in cricket in the Indian subcontinent is because gambling is illegal. You can't regulate something that is underground - in the words of Peter Tosh - "Legalise it - don't you criticize it"....

[hitman1980]

Wht kind of BS is tht .. How can legalizing betting will stop match fixing?? Match fixing will still take place even if betting is legal .. there is no link between them .. If a team want to under perform for money then a bookie can pay them like they do now and bet accordingly in betting market .. Doesn't matter if it legal market or illegal market .. So how is it going to stop match fixing??

[yoda]

^If you legalize, it makes it easier to track. I suppose that in itself can be a deterrent to some even though they can do illegal betting without anyone still having a clue.

[goose]

I've waited a long time for this.

[CSK Fan]

Wht kind of BS is tht .. How can legalizing betting will stop match fixing?? Match fixing will still take place even if betting is legal .. there is no link between them .. If a team want to under perform for money then a bookie can pay them like they do now and bet accordingly in betting market .. Doesn't matter if it legal market or illegal market .. So how is it going to stop match fixing??

When something is legal they have to register with the goverment. Each and every transaction which happens then is tracked. For example, if a bookie places a large sum on high odds(becasue he knows that a player is fixing matches), the goverment will immediately smell a rat and will track the bookie down. So any suspicious act by a bookie will be caught

[ina_jawaan]

Article - Clamour grows for legalised betting in India http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6811F220100902 Analysis - Clamour grows for legalised betting in India By Amlan Chakraborty NEW DELHI | Thu Sep 2, 2010 12:41pm BST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Pakistan spot-fixing scandal has once again shone the spotlight on illegal betting in the sub-continent and reopened the debate on the legalisation of gambling in India. Since the Australian duo of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh admitted in 1998 to passing information to an Indian bookmaker during a 1994 tournament, cricket has seldom had a financial scandal without an Indian connection. The latest spot-fixing scandal, in which Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are alleged to have bowled three deliberate no-balls by arrangement, continued the trend. Arrested by British police on suspicion of defrauding bookmakers, Mazhar Majeed claimed he dealt with an Indian party. Two Australian cricketers also said they were approached by an Indian bookie in England last year. Lawyer Rahul Mehra, who has fought numerous legal battles against cricket and other sports bodies in India seeking transparency in their functions, is not surprised. "The Indians bet on the weather, crops and even smaller and trivial things. Cricket is a religion here and India is the financial hub. So it's hardly a surprise that an India-Pakistan ODI draws bets worth $20 million (13 million pounds)," Mehra told Reuters. "The only thing is that here betting is not legal which is why there is little government control over the industry." Legal gambling in India is confined to horse-racing while casinos are allowed only in a couple of states. CRIMINAL ACTIVITY Illegal syndicates are thriving, however, and Indian media estimates put the amount bet on last year's Indian Premier League (IPL) at $427 million. A Delhi trial court judge Tuesday said gambling on cricket should be legalised to prevent the spoils being spent on criminal activity and to generate revenue for the government. Former India cricket chief Inderjit Bindra has long been a supporter of legalisation for similar reasons and to help the fight against match-fixing. "If betting is legalised, it will be in the interest of the government as not only will it eliminate match-fixing but also earn states revenue in crores (tens of millions)," Bindra, now an adviser at the International Cricket Council (ICC), said two years ago. "My personal view is that if you want anything to be regulated, it has to be legalised." The cost to the image of cricket from the involvement of Indian bookmakers in the manipulation of results has been huge. The game suffered arguably its biggest crisis since the Bodyline series of the 1930s when Delhi Police released the transcript of former South African captain Hansie Cronje's conversation with an Indian bookie in 2000. Subsequently, three international captains -- Cronje, Salim Malik of Pakistan and India's Mohammad Azharuddin -- received life bans, while a host of players were fined. In the same year, Sri Lankan cricketers revealed being approached by Indian bookies during their 1992 tour of Australia, suggesting the rot had started much earlier than thought. LEGALISED BETTING INDUSTRY In 2004, former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said he had been approached by an Indian sports promoter, while in 2008 West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels was banned for two years for passing information to an Indian bookie. Columnist Ashok Malik, who comments on politics and the business of sport, does not subscribe to the view that legalising betting would end the problem. "People should not confuse illegal betting with spot-fixing. Spot-fixing is as much a possibility even in a legalised betting industry," he said. "It's not legality, the problem starts when bookies try to get prior knowledge of events and are ready to share their profit with the cricketers to fix incidents." "Having a legalised betting industry is not the solution. It's like owning a hotel fulfilling all the legal criteria and then running a prostitution racket there." Malik does, however, believe that gambling on the nation's favourite sport should be legalised. "When lotteries and gambling on horse racing is legal, it is ridiculous not to legalise cricket betting." Mehra believes the Indian government should set up a commission to regulate the industry. "Legalising betting is important, for this is no secret that everyone, including businessmen and corporate houses, wants to bet on cricket," he said. "Besides, legalising it would give the government some control over the industry. They should think about setting up something like a Betting Commission or Gambling Commission. "Bookies would have to register themselves and everything should be bound by rules and regulation. Whenever you see anything fishy in the odds, you can track down the culprits. "It would help not only the players, but also the bookies, spectators, government and the game as well."