EVERY once in a while, the old adages like ‘innocent until proven guilty’, ‘due process’, ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and their siblings/spouses reek of legalese. Sometimes, the boys who cried wolf end up being the pied pipers who led the innocent public down the tunnel of no belief, ebbing and flowing with the fortunes of their exalted soldiers, who mercilessly plowed through the opposition in an effort to do their people proud. And then there is a situation that merits empathy, compassion, bifurcation, and yet, one needs to set an example for the greater good. The stinging operation that has effectively knotted the future of international cricket into a jumble of incoherent bumbling, stammering, slurring ambiguity, is one such example.
With the Lords spot-fixing episode now making headlines globally, one needs to assess the situation and look at possible solutions, even if their likelihood of success are slim to none. By now it’s apparent that behind the scenes betting on the outcome of the matches is the single biggest cause of spot-fixing and match-fixing in any revenue sport globally. While the ailment isn’t unique to Cricket, in no other sport has there been a lower level of public faith and belief in the effort and outcome components of any international fixture, than in Cricket. And, nothing hurts the bankability of a revenue sport, than a tainted on-field reputation.
While the alleged messengers brought with them an aura of inevitability, what’s truly shocking is the message itself. It is nauseating that match-fixing might still be taking place in a sport reeling and tainted by its past egressions to the extent that a dropped catch at a crucial juncture or a wince of pain by a star player is scrutinized, analyzed, dissected, and sadly, dismissed as part of a ‘lower plan’.
And that is what makes this particular episode all the more mystifying, since the world had been put on notice on numerous occasions in the past: the least the powers that be could have tried to instill among the member nations’ core teams was accountability, governance, discipline, and a zero tolerance policy to anything akin to morally repugnant behavior on the part of its athletes or personnel.
A closer look however at past precedents, dating back to the South African and Indian match-fixing skeletons of the 1990’s closets, and at Cricket over the years, would highlight the striking similarities of the suspicious activities in each and every such incident. Alleged partnerships between illegal betting and ‘enforcement’ syndicates operating as a parallel self-regulatory body seem to have ensured that those who comply are often unwillingly the victims of overt or covert coercion and the lack of options.
While legalizing betting is unlikely to eradicate this issue, the chances are that by legalizing sports betting, some revenues generated from this hugely popular hobby globally would somehow benefit the sports domain in India over time, and hopefully, the on-field performances at least would be somewhat more genuine over the long run. A long shot yes, and one that must be accompanied by far more stringent compliances than are presently in place in most Indian sports. This can’t be allowed to continue: if it does, Indian sports are likely to end up right where they began in the early 1990’s: as bottom feeders in virtually every discipline.
The business of sports globally isn’t and likely will never be entirely clean, as past precedents, or allegations made with respect to some of the most lucrative and distinguished sports and professional sports leagues would attest. However, it would be safe to say that most, if not all offenders, or the governing bodies of the sports/leagues in which such offenses have been committed, have been disciplined, clear cut guidelines have been instilled, and for the most part, there has been a zero tolerance policy when it comes to fixing, betting, drug-use, or other acts of moral turpitude that jeopardize the integrity of the leagues or the sports themselves. Foolproof or not, at times hypocritical, that is how the cookie has crumbled in the past and present when it comes to on-field egressions.
Cricket is reeling, and unlike the ten degrees of separation between the fans and the IPL tweets. Till now unsubstantiated claims of ownership opaqueness, alleged company law violations, rigging of the bids, the one-sided nature of the regulations and compliances, the off-field glitz, glamour, and fading stars that victimized the IPL, were entertaining, but did not cast a pall of gloom over the veracity of the on-field performances. There was little credibility to on field match-fixing rumors, and in terms of bankable memories, few could question the passion of MSD as he punched the opposition out of the tournament, the commitment of the little master as he dove in vain to dismiss his erstwhile teammate and at the time fierce rival, or the anger of ‘the wall’ as his valiant attempt to help accelerate the run-rate led to his dismissal and his team’s demise.
A large part of the IPL’s success and bankability was its ability to churn out passion, quality, and star power, with nary a question as to the integrity of the players’ efforts, or the authenticity of the results. This is why the Lords debacle will rest heavily on the shoulders of the enforcers who were supposed to have instilled in the sport a legal and moral sense of right and wrong. After all, Cricket is the only sport to have cleared its own path towards compliance and disciplines, relating to the WADA whereabouts clause, or its reluctance to join the fold of all other sports in the global domain.
