An IPS officer named G Sampath Kumar has filed a PIL against IPL 2018, in an attempt to curb match-fixing and cricket betting. The petitioner is willing to restrain Board of Control for Cricket in India from conducting the eleventh season of a cash-rich league if there are no preventive measures in place.
Indian Premier League has become a compulsory event for Indian audience in summer. It has garnered interest from most of the cricketing world over the past decade. However, this also had implications in India when betting on the league is on the rise in the past few years.
The league had also seen match-fixing happening earlier and banned few players. Then there was also a ban on Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years. It came in the wake up of 2013 fixing scandal which rocked Indian cricket.
Madras High Court will hear the case on Wednesday afternoon. If Sampath Kumar wins the PIL, then BCCI will be forced to take proactive measures. This will ensure no fixing or betting happens in the league. The first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice A Selvam will listen to the PIL today.
“Contrary to the Lodha Committee report, vested interests still continue to be protected in the IPL and the questions of conflict of interest remain unaddressed by the BCCI,” Sampathkumar said.
Petitioner Not Seeking Ban On IPL
BCCI, currently, do not have any structured mechanism that would curb the corruption in the game. The board also do not contain any database of earnings of its players nor about bookies, fixers, and kingpins of illegal betting, according to Sampath Kumar.
However, the petitioner has made it clear that he is not intending a ban on the league. He just wants the board to bring in proper measures before IPL is conducted this year.
On April 7, the defending champions Mumbai Indians play against Chennai Super Kings. The league will have the principle eight host cities as the franchises after almost three years.
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