Now that the spot-fixing scandal has come into the open, every time a player scratches his head or tucks his towel, the viewer sitting back home will presume the match to be fixed and manipulated. Things have actually got this bad
The Indian Premier league typically represents media frenzy, glamour and excessive vice that supersede the sporting domain of the event. The event is taking cricket lovers for a ride as the glitterati topple the sporting paradigm of the game of cricket. The IPl is packaged in a way that even those population segments that might not be hardcore cricket fans are glued to their television sets lured by the clamour of celebrities, glamour and the hysteria that goes with it. The money-spinning potboiler that the IPl is, it undoubtedly speaks of a very efficient and hot business model with all the right proportions of the marketing mix embedded in it.
But with the largesse comes the cost. And the cost is the game of cricket itself. The unearthing of betting scandals, players’ complicity in spot-fixing, underworld kingpins’ involvement and monetary misappropriation are all turning the premise of what was supposed to be a gentleman’s game.
From the onset, the event has been mired in a spate of scams and controversies. It’s a far cry from the supposed role-models, EPl and NBA. On the one hand, where sporting leagues internationally are trying to adopt more of a socio-capitalist model and are increasing their accountability towards the sporting world and society at large by promoting sports and holistic development across the world, the IPl has unfortunately gone the crony way. Obviously, the lack of a free-market structure has given IPl and its stakeholders all the possible avenues to distort the essence of a business model and still stay in the market.
What else can better describe the ownership pattern of the leagueIJ There has always been a link between IPl and the Board of Control for Cricket in India with respect to ownership and management. In the beginning, Mr lalit Modi served as the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier league and also was the vice president of the BCCI. Similarly now, Mr N Srinivasan, who is the president of BCCI, concurrently is the owner of Chennai Super Kings. Such ownership not only questions the verity and transparency of the system but also allows the promoters to misuse official power and positions.
And with recent reports confirming that Mr Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is being questioned by the police for his alleged spot-fixing role and his deep connection with Vindoo Dara Singh, another alleged spot-fixer, this complicity of BCCI in IPl mismanagement has come completely out in the open.
In the age of internet, it is very difficult to curb the moral plague threatening to engulf the integrity of sports in general. What is most disconcerting is that the malaise finds its base in Asia at large and particularly in India. South Asian betting chains now are not merely restricted to the subcontinent but are spreading their tentacles to the European and American sporting markets as well.
What one has to realise is that the reason the intensity of betting in India far exceeds that in Europe or North America is not because the countries there are full of noble souls but because the phenomenon is more effectively tackled by the authorities. The governing bodies of sporting fraternities in Europe and in America have kept a close track of and control on the impending danger that global betting rackets pose to their sports.
In the EPl and the NBA, for example, there are specialised cells of betting managers whose job is to keep track of the players, referees and umpires with data and analysis to insulate the games from betting operators. These cells have set up monitoring systems that even keep tabs on international transactions that players and other stakeholders make. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies in these countries are more efficient and credible, and any hint of money-laundering is addressed with immediate action.
However, in the IPl, neither do we have a specialised machinery to control betting and fixing within the game nor are there designated public authorities with decent track records. Hence the nosedive. In the backdrop of such betting scandals cropping up every now and then, these sorts of checks need to be set up, supported by an all-out overdrive to cleanse the system. However, just setting up monitoring mechanisms won’t work unless they are backed up by sound logistics of law enforcement agencies and judiciary.
Sporting crime is a crime per se, and a holistic overhaul of crime control has to include the issues within IPl too. Betting rackets are often found to have their primary links within the hierarchy of underworld networks. If these people are allowed to roam around and do 'business', there is every likelihood that they will dig their heels deeper into high profile money-spinning events like the IPl. After all, it’s a lucrative business and easy money; and if they can escape the hands of laws quite easily, why wouldn’t they indulge into itIJ
Thus, the IPl’s attempt to be cash-rich has clearly paved the way for the loss of sportsman’s spirit and integrity in sports per se. India, not only for the IPl, but also for all the sporting events, needs a dedicated and centralised body for monitoring sports activity in tandem with local investigative agencies, independent and anonymous law enforcing units and also with international investigative bodies.
Till then, every time a player scratches his head or tucks his towel, the viewer sitting back home would presume the match to be fixed and manipulated.
(The author is a management guru and honorary director of IIPM Think Tank)