India’s Supreme Court rejects bid to halt IPL

Reuters: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition on Tuesday, seeking to scrap the remaining matches of the lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition amid growing concerns about corruption in the sport. Former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday, on suspicion of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The case has prompted the Government to look at the possibility of introducing a law to combat match-fixing and spot-fixing. Cricket fan and social activist Sudarsh Awasti lodged the petition demanding the scrapping of the remaining four IPL matches, including Sunday’s final, but the Apex court said the competition would go on as scheduled.

The court also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to submit a report within two weeks with details of the players’ involvement in the scandal and what action is being taken against them. Cricket is a gentlemen’s game and it should remain so, the court observed. Awasti also wanted a special investigation to get to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal and for the league to be banned from next year, but the court found no merit in his demands.

The film industry was also pulled into the controversy when Mumbai Police arrested a Bollywood actor, Vindu Dara Singh, on Tuesday for alleged links to a bookmaker. “Vindu Dara Singh has been arrested. He was in contact with some bookie, that’s what I can tell you right now,” a senior police officer Satyanarayan Chaudhury, told Reuters, refusing to disclose further details.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing, while illegal betting syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport. Media estimates put the amount gambled on the Twenty20 competition at US$ 427 million in 2009.