'Administrators must build effective deterrence'

The Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal of 2013 shares a feature with most instances of match-fixing and spot-fixing: Its detection wasn't by the body governing the sport.

The 'Black Sox' scandal that hit the 1919 World Series was cracked only after some players confessed before a grand jury. The 'Totonero' scandal, which led to the relegation of the Lazio and AC Milan football clubs from Italy and the suspension of World Cup hero Paolo Rossi, came to light only after a restaurant owner confessed about his involvement in fixing football matches to a law enforcement agency.

In 2000, cricket woke up to its most severe crisis only after the Delhi police stumbled upon telephone conversations involving South African cricketer Hansie Cronje. In 2010, it was a sting operation by the UK-based News of the World that exposed the involvement of three Pakistani cricketers in spot-fixing.

Historically, sports governing bodies have woken up to match-fixing only after its detection by investigative journalists or, more commonly, by law enforcement agencies. This isn't surprising. Match-fixing is difficult to detect without surveillance and powerful interrogations that 'encourage' one or more participants in a conspiracy to spill the beans. The governing bodies have neither the powers nor the capacity for this.

However, what they do have is the ability to administer effective deterrence once charges have been proved after a fair inquiry. They can truncate careers and expunge records. Cricket already has an anti-corruption code that channels this power by defining offences, setting out a procedure for inquiry, and laying out the punishments to be imposed once charges are proved. Though this code might be somewhat outdated for the franchise cricket environment, other governing bodies have a lot to learn from cricket's sophistication.

Governing bodies will need help from law enforcement agencies. That law enforcement agencies in India aren't empowered to provide support became embarrassingly evident recently when the matter of the three Rajasthan Royals players arrested by the Delhi police in 2013 could not even make it to trial. The entire investigation, including the arrests, had been conducted outside any credible legal framework. This should never happen. The fight against fixing needs both sound law enforcement investigation and strict punishment from governing bodies. The government should ensure law enforcement agencies are on firm ground while investigating fixing in sport by making it a crime to fix matches or any passages of play.

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Aju John
Sports Law Faculty, myLaw.net
(The author teaches sports law on myLaw.net. Views are personal)