Cricket - Illegal Betting Clampdown

The authorities are clamping down - but would it be better for it to be allowed ?

The cricket World Cup is due to start in a week, and across India, rival teams are already limbering up for six weeks of running, chasing and the occasional catch. In this case, however, the opposing sides are not batsmen and bowlers - they are police and underground bookmakers.

Gambling is illegal in almost all parts of India, and following a string of high-profile match-fixing scandals, bookies are going to extraordinary lengths to avoid detection. Many operate in distant rural areas, but some are reported to be planning to take bets from trains or small planes.

"None of the bookies may remain stationed in Mumbai to accept bets. We will rather prefer going to remote villages and monitoring the match with [satellite TV] service. And if we are caught there, it will be easier to handle the village police," a bookmaker from South Mumbai told DNA newspaper.

Illicit betting on the results will range from a few pennies placed among friends to wagers worth millions of pounds by international syndicates.

Last year Dharmesh Sharma, an Indian judge, said illegal betting on cricket had reached "alarming" levels.

"The extent of money that it generates is diverted to clandestine and sinister objectives like drug trafficking and terrorist activities," said Sharma.

Three Pakistani players were recently caught in a spot-betting sting in the UK.

However, the efforts are unlikely to make much impact. There is a long history of collusion between India's deeply corrupt police and bookmakers.

Guardian