MATCH FIXING: THREAT TO INDIAN SPORTS INTEGRITY

Shayan Dasgupta*
Sport is a competitive physical activity aimed to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants. Evolution of sports has marked a new era of providing worldwide entertainment to the spectators and the audience. The content of entertainment factor has increased to such a frightening extent that now sports has deserted its true virtue and entered the entertainment field solely. The Indian Premier League is the biggest example of this where rich businessmen to top celebrities invest their golden fortune to entertain the audience via cricket. Such a scenario, where millions of rupees are at stake, is the nesting ground for corruption, cheating and gambling. In organized sports like cricket, football, basketball etc. match fixing and gambling has become the part and parcel. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the existing legal framework and concepts related to matchfixing in India and urge imposition of criminal liability on match-fixing by effective legislation specific to this issue. After doing so, this paper provides numerous suggestions that can be enforced as transitory measure until such a law is made and also after commencement of the same law.

I.

Introduction

As per The Australian Sport Minister (Sport and Recreation Ministers Council Communiqu 2011)1; the definition given is as : Match-fixing involves the manipulation of an outcome or contingency by competitors, teams, sports agents, support staff, referees and officials and venue staff. Such conduct includes: a. the deliberate fixing of the result of a contest, or of an occurrence within the contest, or of a points spread; b. deliberate underperformance; c. withdrawal (tanking)2 d. an officials deliberate misapplication of the rules of the contest; e. interference with the play or playing surfaces by venue staff; and f. abuse of insider information to support a bet placed by any of the above or placed by a gambler who has recruited such people to manipulate an outcome or contingency In other words, match-fixing is irregularly influencing the course or result of a sports event in order to obtain advantage for oneself or for others and to remove all or part of the uncertainty normally associated with sport. Match-fixing most commonly has its roots in the illegal sports betting business, where bettors place huge bets on the results of games. To make sure the outcome of the game favors them, they pay a certain amount to a sportsman or a team, an amount which they will find hard to resist, on the condition that they perform poorly or lose the game. For example- England V. India Test series is being played in Wankhade stadium in Mumbai. Now a gambler sitting in Singapore will call his bookkeeper and gambles Rs.
The author is thankful to Prof. Kshika Garg, Faculty, Symbiosis Law School, Pune for her critical insights and constant support and guidance to draft this paper. 1 Match fixing: Mapping of Criminal Law Provisions in EU 27. March 2012. KEA Eurpoean Affairs. Retrievd on 01/02/2013. 2 Tanking means throwing away; deliberately losing or not competing.

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10,00,00,000 on Indias victory. The bookkeeper will use his contacts to reach and secure either the players or the coach to throw their game. If England loses with clear indication that the match was thrown away by the players, we can declare the match to be fixed (with substantial evidence admissible in court). The phenomenon of match-fixing is not a recent development. It has been present more than two millennia ago when the organizers of ancient Olympics were facing allegations against athletes accused of accepting bribes to lose a competition. The greed of victory encouraged the city-states to secure the outcome of competitors through large amounts of money. The first sport to become associated to match-fixing was baseball with the infamous incident of Black Sox scandal 1919 where eleven members of the Chicago White Sox team threw the world series.3 Matching fixing is carried out in two fashions. One is tanking where the player intentionally throws away the game at his hand by deliberately losing or not competing at all. Tanking requires contacts between gamblers, bookkeepers, players, team officials etc. This style of fixing is very hard to prove in court of law. The most common method of tanking is substitutions made by the coach designed to deliberately increase the teams chances of losing rather than selecting the best players on the team to win the match. The other method is known as spot-fixing which involves fixing small events within a match which can be gambled upon, but which are unlikely to prove decisive in determining the final result of the game.

II. The Scandals

Match fixing has become more prevalent in the 21st century. With the explosive growth of mass-media we have become aware of biggest scandals in the most watched sporting events like cricket, football, hockey etc. In this section I shall discuss about the biggest scandals in India. It was surprising to find out that majority of the match-fixing was observed in Cricket only. This might be due to the national obsession regarding this sport that makes it a lucrative target for gamblers and match-fixers. It is quite possible that other sports in India also face this problem but no such incident has been reported yet. Over the past decade, Indian cricket has been rocked by scandals related to match fixing. The first scandal that caused a minor sensation in international cricket was in 1998, when Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were penalized by the Australian Cricket Board(ACB) for accepting money from an Indian bookmaker to reveal the weather and pitch information. ACB imposed fine on Warne and Waugh. 4 It was, however, in the year 2000 that India faced the biggest match-fixing scandal. It all started with the Delhi police intercepting a conversation between an Indian bookmaker and Hansie Cronje, the South African Cricket Captain. The conversation revealed that Cronje had accepted bribes from the bookmaker to lose matches against India in the India-South Africa One-Day series of 2000. A formal inquiry committee was set up and Cronje later admitted to having accepted money from the bookmakers to throw two matches. He was banned from playing the game for life. 5 South African Players Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams were accused of having been in touch with bookmakers and were suspended for six months for not informing the authorities about match-fixing incidents by Cronjie.6 The Cronjie Scandal had not digested in when the nation was startled by the name declared by him. Well known cricketers like Salim Malik, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar7 were all
3 4

Integrity in Sports: Understanding and preventing match-fixing. Sports Accord Report 2012. Retrieved on 08/02/2013. "Findings of the O'Regan Player Conduct Inquiry". February 24, 1999. Retrieved on 08/02/2013. 5 How Hansie Cronje became most infamous villain in crickets fixing scandals. Telegraph UK, 2000. Retrieved on 07/02/2013. 6 Ibid 3; pg 2. 7 Manoj Prabhakar falsely accused Kapil Dev for match-fixing which back-fired at him and got himself a life ban.

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named as having links to several bookmakers in the country. While Ajay Jadeja faced a ban from cricket for five years8, Manoj Prabhakar9 was disqualified from holding any post in the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), and Azharuddin and Malik10 were awarded life time banishment from cricket (Azharuddins life ban was overturned by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2012) 11 Its not just the player but also the umpires who have alleged to be a part of this fixing scandals. According to a report filed by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), a famous Indian bookmaker in 1993 had paid an Indian umpire to collect pitch information prior to the India-England one-day series that year. It was also revealed that a grounds man was asked to lay out an under-prepared pitch in Delhi for a Test match against Australia in 1996.12 Also it has been alleged that 6 umpires from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had taken money to give decisions in favour of the gamblers , immediately after the T20 World Cup in 2012 and Sri Lankan Premier League, who were caught in a sting operation. An investigation committee has been set up; results are awaited. 13 Memories of these incidents had just faded when again things got flared up by the IPC scandal. Five cricketers, namely TP Sudhindra (Team Hyderabad), Mohnish Mishra (Team Pune), Amit Yadav (Team Punjab), Shalabh Shrivastava (Team Punjab) and Abhinav Bali who doesn't have an IPL contract , were caught in a TV sting operation discussing about manipulating matches by bowling no-balls at a designated stage of the match ,had been suspended from all formats of the then ongoing Indian Premier League 5, 201214. The BCCI used the specific provisions of IPLs anti-corruption rules that allow provisional ban on the basis of compelling proof or reasonable doubt. An Anti-corruption unit has been established under the IPLs memorandum and for transitory measures, the 5 players have been suspended.

III. Legislations in India : An anlysis

Indian laws have no mention of match-fixing. To look for the definition of match-fixing reference has to be made to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Match-fixing allegations made by Manoj Prabhakar on Kapil Dev15. CBI defines match-fixing as: a. instances where an individual player or group of players received money individually/collectively to underperform; b. instances where a player placed bets in matches in which he played that would naturally undermine his performance; c. instances where players passed on information to a betting syndicate about team composition, probable result, pitch condition, weather, etc., d. instances where groundsmen were given money to prepare a pitch in a way which suited the betting syndicate; and e. Instances of current and ex-players being used by bookies to gain access to Indian and foreign players to influence their performance for a monetary consideration. This definition suffers from major lacunae as it just includes players only. It leaves umpires, coaches, selectors or any other person related to cricket from the framework. These people work on the other side of the
8 9

"Player Profile: Ajay Jadeja". ESPN Cricinfo Retrieved on 07/02/2013 "Player Profile: Manoj Prabhakar". ESPN Cricinfo Retrieved on 07/02/2013 10 "Player Profile: Saleem Malik". ESPN Cricinfo Retrieved on 07/02/2013 11 "Player Profile: Mohammad Azharuddin" . ESPN Cricinfo Retrieved on 07/02/2013.. 12 See also ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved on 08/02/2013. 13 Umpires deny Cricket Match Fixing Claims. BBC World News, 9 October 2012. Retrieved on 09/02/2013. 14 BCCI suspends 5 cricketrs for IPL spot fixing. Times of India 16 May 2012. Retrieved on 09/02/2013. 15 Ibid5; pg3.

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boundary and they are not players. Therefore, as per this definition, only players commit the offence of match-fixing. Similarly I shall examine the penal laws available in India under which match-fixing can be brought and bring out the stark contrast as its applicability and effectiveness. The penal laws are as follows:

3.1 The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)The IPC has no specific provisions for match-fixing per se. Cheating has been defined under Sec. 415 of IPC which states that: Whoever, by deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to consent that any person shall retain any property, or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived, and which act or omission causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to "cheat"16. I submit that this section cannot apply to match-fixing as the section includes deceiving a person. Cheating must be committed against a specific person. The section does not include the term persons. Match fixing involves deception of public at large into thinking that the match is fixed. The framers of the IPC have used the term public or people in general for the offences against the public at large. 17 But this section only provides for cheating against a specific person and does not include public at large. Also, the section requires transfer of property to take place between the accused and the victim. In match-fixing, there is no clear transfer of property form the corrupt perpetrator to the victim. But, if a player who has taken money from the gambler fails to underperform, he can face a criminal action from the gambler for cheating. This is a very peculiar interpretation of law.18 Thus, he can be charged for cheating the gambler but no charge for cheating can be placed on the player and the gambler by the public under this section. The other prima facie offence which one would assume is criminal conspiracy which is covered under sec. 120 A of the IPC. Criminal conspiracy is defined as When two or more persons agree to do, or cause to be done an illegal act, or an act which is not illegal by illegal means, such an agreement is designated a criminal conspiracy. As there is no provision in the code for match fixing, it is not illegal per se. Thus an agreement to fix a match will not amount to criminal conspiracy. Moreover, the means to fix the match may not be illegal such as internet banking transfer to the gamblers and players accounts is not illegal. Thus the essential ingredients for criminal conspiracy is not fulfilled by match fixing and hence cannot be an offence under this section as well.19 However, to bring about any criminal action against a person intention has to be proved. Without mens rea there cannot be any criminal liability20. Without an intention to defraud a person for some wrongful gain , causing wrongful loss to another, there can be no criminal liability. I submit that while fixing a match by the perpetrators, the wrongful loss to spectators is a mere consequence of this act. It is only incidental and thus lacks the intention of causing wrongful loss to the spectators or the public at large. There might be intention to defraud but that is not applicable in all cases. I submit that considering the aforementioned provisions, focussing on the relevant ones to the topic at hand, matchfixing is not covered by IPC.

16 17

K.D.Gaur, The Indian Penal Code, 4th Edition, Universal Law Publications. Refer Indian Penal Code, 1860. 18 Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, The Indian Penal Code, Twenty third edition, Butterwroth Wadhwa Publication. See also Sec. 415 of IPC. 19 Ibid 16; pg 4. 20 Ibid 16; pg 4.

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3.2 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PCA)The objective for the establishment of this act was to prosecute corrupt public servants and those who give bribes. However, the difficulty put forth for the application of the Act for match-fixing is that this act prosecutes corruption in relation to public servants only. Sec 3 of this Act defines who is a public servant under various heads but for the purpose of this paper, it is defined as any person who holds an office by virtue of which he is authorised or required to perform any public duty. Therefore, corrupt perpetrators of match-fixing are not included under the term public servant and hence the provisions of the Act holds no relevance.21 But do cricketers really do any public duty. Cricketers are mere professionals governed by independent contracts whose job is to entertain people by playing cricket. They do nothing sort of public duty. Thus cricketers do not come under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 also. However, as per the Supreme Courts decision in Zee telefilms Ltd. v. Union of India22it was held that if a body performs or discharges duties or functions which amount to public duties or State functions which is not prohibited by law then it may be considered to be an instrumentality of the State. It was held by the apex Court that BCCI performs enormous public functions and therefore, has a duty to act fairly, in good faith reasonably.23 Thus form the above two judgements it can be concluded that BCCI performs public functions amounting to public duty. Therefore, it might be possible to include the officials and players of BCCI under the ambit of public servants under sec. 3 (viii) of PCA. I submit that I have stretched the words of the Act to bring match-fixing under its ambit and the higher minds in the field of Law might not agree with me. However, as there was no substantive provision for match-fixing in the penal code, I found this Act, if interpreted in a boarder perspective, to be the best alternative to prosecute match-fixers.

3.3 The Public Gambling Act, 1867- (PGA)

The main objective of this Act is to illegalise gambling in India. I submit that this law is being referred to in this paper as gambling is the major reason setting the wheels of match-fixing in motion. If there was no gambling there would have been no match-fixing. This law forms the basis of applicability of gambling laws to match-fixing. This law makes operating gambling house, assisting in the operation of a gambling house, visiting a gambling house (whether gambling or not), financing gambling and being in possession of gambling devices a crime. The penalty is a fine not exceeding 200 rupees or up to three months in prison.24 The law presents with certain exceptions that act as a hurdle in its application for gambling. Section 12 of the Act states that the Act shall not apply to games involving mere skills. This means that in the absence of other laws, gambling or wagering on games of skill is legal. Another point to be noted is that the Act does not define what a game involving mere skill is. The definition of mere skill games was stated by the Supreme Courts judgement as The competitions where success depends on substantial degree of skill are not gambling and despite there being an element of chance if a

21 22

Sec. 3 (viii) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. AIR 2005 SC 2677. 23 BCCI v. Netaji Cricket Club, AIR 2005 SC 592. 24 See also The Public Gambling Act, 1867.

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game is preponderantly a game of skill it would nevertheless be a game of mere skill25. As per this definition Horse Racing and Rummy have been defined as games of skill.26 Even lottery is legal under the Central Lotteries (Regulation) Act of 1998 which gives state government to hold lotteries but to limit of one draw per week. 27This power given to states has been thoroughly misused as majority of the states believe they can make their own laws disregarding the Central Lotteries Act. Sikkims PlayWin Lotto is the most popular example of this. This power has been conferred upon the states by the Seventh Schedule Entry 34 List II that states could legalize gambling should they choose to do so28. To date most states have only made laws against gambling, while 13 states have legalized lottery, and 2 states (Goa and Sikkim) have legalized many other forms of gambling. Goa has made amendments to Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976 to legalize casino gambling including electronic slot machines and table games in Five Star Hotels 29( and off-shore vessels notified to the government). 30 As of now there are 7 land based and many off-shore legally operated casinos in Goa. Also, The Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Tax Rules) 2002 gives the Sikkim government the authority to grant licenses to individuals and business interested in operating casinos. The Sikkim government also has the authority to authorise gambling on certain days to make specific gambling houses legal at their own discretion by way of license.31 This law has a certain degree of grey area in which cricket and poker fall into. Even still poker has been defined as purely a game of chance and not skill by the English Court of Appeal32 which gives a basic outline for the Indian Laws. The shadow of this grey area spreads to the most beloved sport of India-cricket. There are no judgments clinching the provisions of this law with match-fixing which puts its applicability to question. More interestingly there is a conflict of opinion between this Act and the CBIs report which defines cricket as a game of skill. So should we consider cricket betting and gambling legal? Does match-fixing come under its purview? Can the corrupt perpetrators of match-fixing be charged under this Act? The answer to these questions is far from certainty and the absence of any enactment specific to match-fixing makes it more difficult.

3.4 Online Gambling Laws

The internet has allowed the creation of a much wider range of betting products than was available 15 years ago. Today it is possible to bet on a huge number of sports competitions with an almost unlimited range of betting formulas. Internet Gambling has made it easy for the match-fixers to gamble from various locations around the world. With the internet, organised crime take advantage of sports betting opportunities and weakness in the sports movement to launder dirty money. Cyber criminals now use worldwide computer networks and base themselves in legitimate tax havens so that it is impossible to identify the real shareholders of betting or gambling companies. This can be very well understood from the recent events of, which came forth in February 2013, the match-fixing scandals in Europe Champions League
25 26

Dr. K.R. Lakshman v. State of Tamil Nadu , 1996 SCC (2) 226. Ibid 25; pg 5. 27 The Lotteries Regulation Act of 1998. Available at http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/LotteriesAct-1998.pdf. Retrieved on 10/02/2013. 28 See also The Constitution of India. 29 See also Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling (Amendment) Act 11 of 1992. 30 See also Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling (Amendment) Act 13 of 1996. 31 See also The Sikkim Regulation of Gambling (Amendment) Act, 2005. 32 BBC, Man Guilty in Poker Skills Case, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/england/london/6267603.stm. Retrieved on 10/02/2013.

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and European football clubs where the cyber criminals will place bets on the internet or on phone with bookmakers in Asia, where bets that would be illegal in Europe were accepted.33 Internet Gambling business has proliferated since the early 90s. Most of these companies are very mobile, especially those linked to criminal activities. Some websites operators relocate their host servers and country several times a month making it impossible to track them. Some of these companies such as bet365.com are registered and operate under a legal UK gambling license which they held since 197434 . This company is UK based company having customers in more than 200 countries including India. But the Indian laws do not apply to them as without any servers, advertising or anything else going on in India, the authorities cant do much to stop Bet365 from servicing Indian punters. This gives a way to the match-fixers, making internet their best mode of transaction. The Central government has made no legislation or rather have no jurisdiction over these licensed bookmakers who operate under European and International laws. However two laws have been made to make use these sites more difficult. The first law being Payment and Settlement Act, 2007 which gives The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate all forms of electronic payment. This Act gives RBI all sorts of authority over all aspects of payment processing in India, as well as the rights to enter and inspect with or without notice and access to all financial and customer data upon request35. Thus the RBI has the authority to inspect customer data and their transactions on betting but only upon request by the government, which is rarely used rendering the provision ineffective to control match-fixing. The governments major focus is on business men and freelancers who might be evading tax. At present match-fixing and gambling does not seem to be the priority despite of the legal provisions available to them under this Act. The second law that provides for internet gambling is the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 2 item B of this Act includes anything relating or encouraging money laundering and gambling. The Gazette of India published intermediaries guidelines which instructs Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block websites and content relating to gambling and money laundering. 36 Despite this provision, the major concern remains over national security, pornography etc. which provides an advantage to the perpetrators in match-fixing to slip away from right under the nose of the government. Moreover, this law is absent the knowledge as to how to track down cyber criminals linked with match-fixing who relocate IP address and their host multiple times in a month37. In addition to this, IT Act 2000 is in conflict as CEO of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has urged to legalise cricket betting sites with a strong belief that it would prevent corruption and match-fixing in the sport38. I submit that with the proliferation of internet gambling and betting very little has been done to prevent or curb it. The slow response or rather lack of response from our leaders to the increasing match-fixing scandals has not set forth any law or enactment dealing directly with this issue. The law at this time seems more concerned with scaring Indians not to gamble, than it does much to prevent it. This lacuna is used by the corrupt perpetrators to corrupt the integrity of cricket in India and fix matches favouring the outcome of their choice. With the broader interpretations of the aforementioned the culprits of match-fixing can be charged but the government seems to have a laid back attitude over this issue that is corrupting and rotting the nations integrity. Match fixing has become a part of
33 34

Hundreds of football matches fixed. Times of India 5 February 2013. Retrieved on 09/02/2013. Ibid 3; pg 2. 35 See sec. 4 of Payment and Settlement Act, 2007. 36 See Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011. 37 Ibid 3; pg 2. 38 Indian Gambling Laws. Available on http://sportsbetting.net.in/gambling-laws/ . Retrieved on 10/02/2013.

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organised crime and due to absence of any prevalent laws in India it has become very difficult for the government to take action against it. Therefore, I submit that after discussing the prevalent laws it is uncertain if any of them will apply to match-fixing.

3.5 Disciplinary measures

In this section I have discussed about the disciplinary measures taken in the Cricket matchfixing scandals as these are the biggest scandals ever witnessed in India. Untill the 2000 scandal of Hansie Cronjie there was no measures to fight match-fixing. After this incident, The International Cricket Council (ICC) has established a code of conduct for players and team officials. Moreover, an Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has been established to prohibit gambling, betting and any other measure taken to manipulate match result. Providing information regarding match is also violation of the code of conduct. The sanctions range from a fine, or a ban for a period of one year, to a life ban and an unlimited fine which must be determined on the basis of the facts and the circumstances of the case.39 ICC strong sanctions have been effective in the No-ball scandal of Pakistan in 2011 where ICC banned Salman Butt for 10 years, Mohammed Asif for seven and Mohammed Aamer for five40 as were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments to deliberately give no-balls at a pre-fixed moment.41 Moreover, BBCI has conducted its own disciplinary enquiry into the allegations of match-fixing after the Cronjie scandal. I submit that in the absence of any legal provision there is an ad-hoc provision filling the void.

IV. International Legislations: A brief overview

After discussing the ordinary laws in India in relation to match-fixing it is time to look into European laws , USA laws and other international frameworks on match-fixing. In this section I shall draw a comparative analysis of the laws in US and European Union (EU) and other international frameworks with the laws in India. It was mentioned in the previous section that manipulation of sports result or match-fixing has become a major part of organised crime. The main aim of drawing this comparative study is to consider whether these laws offer requisite legal backing to fight this organised crime or conversely it provides loopholes making match-fixing out of reach. First I will dwell into the other international frame works, then into EU laws and the USA laws. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), also known as Merida Convention42, requires countries to establish criminal and other offences of corruption. This act covers active and passive forms of corruption43. Active corruption is offering or giving, directly or indirectly, for an undue advantage to the person by underperforming or breaching his duties. The perpetrators who gamble and bet and corrupt the other persons involved to make dirty money are included in this. Passive corruption is solicitation or acceptance of an undue advantage to the person seeking it by underperforming or breaching his duties. Players, coaches, umpires who help these gamblers and match-fixers earn their dirty money come under this. This instrument includes all forms of sports corruption. However, the major setback of this instrument is that

39

International Cricket Council, Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, available at http://in.yimg.com/icccricket/pdfs/code-of-conduct-for-players-and-officials.pdf. retrieved on 11/02/2013. 40 "Agent Mazhar Majeed pleaded guilty to his part in spot-fixing plot". The Guardian. 2 November 2011. Retrieved on 08/02/2013. 41 "Pakistan cricketers guilty of betting sca". BBC News. 1 November 2011. Retrieved on 08/02/2013. 42 This instrument has supplemented existing international initiatives in the field. On 2005, The European Commission and the Council Presidency signed the Convention on behalf of European Community. 43 See Article 21 of UN Convention against Corruption. available on http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/index.html. Retrieved on 11/02/2013.

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these provisions are not mandatory on the countries but are just to be considered by them to establish criminal offences. The Council of Europe has adopted the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption44 which aims at criminalization of public as well as private corruption (which includes active and passive bribery). But the private sector corruption is limited to commercial activity, which is restrictive as it fails to allow the diverse range of circumstances where in which manipulation of sports result can occur. Moreover, the convention gives the ratifying states as option not to criminalize active and passive bribery. 45 I submit that with the availability of such an option, very few states would actually implement criminalization of match-fixing due to the high penetration level of corruption in the system itself. Lack of any mandatory provisions by these conventions renders it an effective tool against match-fixing corruption with an added pressure of insider information. Even f the UN Convention was made mandatory and enforced; a lot could have been done against match-fixing. After examining the international frame works and conventions I shall now compare the European Unions laws for match-fixing. The European Union has no specific legislation addressing the issue of match-fixing. However, they follow guidelines laid down by the Lisbon Treaty which provides EU to sanction certain criminal offences. As per the new article 83 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) gives EU the power to legislate on many issues but for the purpose of the paper, it can legislate on money laundering, corruption and organised crime.46I submit that this Article 83 can serve as the legal basis to criminalize match-fixing with specific implication on organised crime. The most relevant framework step taken by EU was the Council framework decision of 2003 where it was decided to criminalize active and passive corruption with implication on match-fixing. 47 However, the member states of the council have failed to capture the true elements of the decision and have failed to implement the same effectively. In addition, Eurojust is another institution with key relevance to the prosecution of sports corruption. Eurojust can only request that the authorities of one or more Member State undertake an investigation or prosecution of sport corruption, set up a joint investigation team or provide the information needed to accomplish Eurojust missions. Most of the EU countries have not focussed on match-fixing, sports corruption, gambling or even organised crime. However, UK has dwelled into the matter relevant to match-fixing, that is cheating at gambling. UK government passed the UK Gambling Act, 2005 which contains a specific offence addressing cheating at gambling, under Section 42 where those who place bets illegally and those who are involved in the betting related manipulation of sport events are imprisoned for a period not exceeding 2 years, and/or to a fine.48 The explanation of this section states that a person is considered to commit an offence irrespective of whether he actually gains anything as a result of the cheating, or whether the cheating has the effect of improving that persons chances of winning. This means that someone who cheats and loses, or someone who cheats on behalf of another person, is still considered to have committed an offence. Moreover, under this Act gambling licenses are provided with a condition that the license seekers have to provide information about illegal gambling on sports.

44

Adopted in 1998 and opened for signature by the Member States of the Council of Europe, and the non-Member States which had contributed to its development, on 27 January 1999. 45 See Article 27 of The Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. Available on http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/173.htm Retrieved on 11/02/2013. 46 Official Journal of European Union. Available on http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:en:PDF . Retrieved on 11/02/2013. 47 Ibid 1;pg1 48 See also sec. 42 of UK Gambling Act, 2005

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I opine, this provision is ineffective as the flow of information from the licensed operators to the authorities is very limited. Also, there is a possibility that most of these operators chose to ignore this provision due to self-involvement. This is just a logical allegation based on practical experience. Also there are very rare court decisions in UK concerning match-fixing that too only in football and not other sport especially cricket. I submit that UK laws have more significance in India but why should India seek this law as an example when UK itself has not been able to implement it effectively? If at all a similar law was made in India, certain mandatory provisions should be amended in it to put a string fight against match-fixing. Considering into US laws where this problem has been encountered for a much longer period of time. The law prevalent to fight this problem is the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act, 197049(RICO Act). This is a potent weapon which need not prove that individuals are a part of a single conspiracy and instead holds them all acts of the organised crime as part of an enterprise. Only criminal behaviour has to be proved to punishable under this Act. The Act has been successful in cases of bribery, corruption, extortion etc. A successful prosecution of match-fixing was witnessed in boxing related case.50Many other cases on match-fixing have been prosecuted under this Act. I submit that US has pressed concern over match-fixing and their legislation is strong enough to fight organised crime. Even in India, State governments have the authority to make legislations combating organised crime, such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA)51. Ordinarily this law would not apply to match-fixing as this Act requires that the accused should have charge sheet filed against them 10 years prior to this Act. Thus, bookies, players, officials can go scot free if they have no charge-sheet filed against them 10 years before the commencement of this Act. 52Moreover it is necessary that the offender is only if he in a continuing unlawful activity and that they are a part of organised crime.53 Concluding by comparingvarious penal laws in relation to match-fixing, I submit, that only the US law RICO Act has shown effective results and recognizes match-fixing as a part of organised crime. India is absent of any penal laws for match-fixing and based on the aforesaid laws, an effective legislation can be enacted to maintain the integrity of sports.

V.

Impact of European corruption on Indian illegal gambling

As discussed in the previous section that the operators of illegal gambling are not kept under strict surveillance and they do not communicate any cases of suspected match-fixing. Europe is known for harnessing the demand for illegal gambling and betting for sports manipulation. This demand is looted by the Asian illegal market especially in countries like India, Singapore and China. The bookies from the Asian countries place bets for the perpetual gamblers due to high level of corruption in sports in Europe. The recent example of European football corruption scandal, where bets were placed from Singapore, is the evidence of the same.54 The infatuation of the general public with European competitions pushed Indian operators to diversify their betting offering, and helped to swell the world betting market and concentrate its offering on European sport. As a result, the prospect of profits encouraged certain Indian criminals to attempt to corrupt matches in
49

Nishant Gokhale, Fix the Fixers: The justification of criminal liability for match-fixing. NUJS Criminal Jaw Journal. Retrieved on 12/02/2013. 50 Venzor v. Gonzales 936 F. Supp. 445 JARVIS, ROBERT & PHYLLIS COLEMAN, SPORTS LAW: CASES & MATERIALS 796-803 (1999) 51 Ibid 49; pg 10. 52 See section 2(d) of The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999. 53 See 2(f) The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999 54 Ibid 33; pg 7.

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Europe, in order to then enrich themselves on the market in Asia. In 1994, the Liverpool goal keeper, Bruce Grobbelaar, was accused of match-fixing and was later found guilty55. Many such instances have led to orchestrating a huge illegal sports betting market in India. Often, the fingers are pointed to this illegal betting market that led to the corruption. But the presence of fraudulent betting on Indian (Asian) sites and market56 does not mean that corruption necessarily emanates from Asian criminals. In fact, corrupt perpetrators seek out to such criminals in India and Singapore to bet on their matches57. Thus, I submit that illegal gambling and match-fixing operations are not founded by the corruption in Europe but its a bilateral enterprise having all the criminal perpetrators under its shadow and hence leading to a cross-webbed match-fixing operation.

VI. Recommendations
From the discussion of the above section I shall draw the conclusion that sports integrity , especially of cricket has been drastically undermined by the dirty games played by the perpetrators to earn dirty money. The recommendations have been divided into two sections i.e for the sports authority and the public authority. Recommendation for the Sports Authorities: a. Strict Standard of ethics and morals should be inculcated to avoid indulging in sports betting or/and communication of sensitive information to third parties. b. Severe disciplinary action should be taken against those who indulge in match-fixing or have any connection with any activity related to it. c. Players should sign a contract giving their personal details of bank statements etc. so that in case of suspicion their bank statements can be verified to confirm sports corruption. d. Whistle Blowing concept should be encouraged followed with guarantees of confidentiality and reward for maintaining integrity58. A separate department should be made for the same. e. Sport organisations and its authorities should be made educated of the threat of sports betting. Information of its functioning should be provided so that they can report any suspicious activities. f. Establishment of a corruption in sport monitoring centre common to all sports. A database could be centralised at international federation level to gather together all information that might be useful to sports organisations on corruption in sport linked with betting. This monitoring centre will aid the protection of integrity of sports.(Just like ICC has created an Anti corruption and Security Unit) g. A list of unauthorised and authorised operators should be made according to the scale of risk using the monitoring centre.59 h. Surveillance should be made stricter before and during various sports competition. i. Special units should be made to combat sports corruption attached to organised crime. j. A special unit should be assigned to infiltrate the illegal market of sports betting (such as an Intelligence Unit) to combat the problem from the root itself.

55

Available on http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200102/ldjudgmt/jd021024/grobb-1.html. Retrieved on 12/02/2013. 56 Betting sites in Asia such as 188bet.com, sbobet.com, ibcbet.com etc. 57 Sports betting and corruption: How to preserve the integrity of sport. University of Michigan. Retrieved on 12/02/2013. 58 Ibid 57;pg 11. 59 Ibid 1; pg 1

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Sports authority play a vital role, in curbing match-fixing attached organised crime and illegal betting, as they operate at the grass-root level and thus can regulate and control the sports activity and event from a closer view. Recommendation for Public Authority: a. Obligating gambling operators to obtain license issued by a public regulator which should define the prerequisites of obtaining the license. The list of the licensed operators should be provided to the sports authority. b. The licensed operators should be mandated to provide information about betting on sports especially the suspicious ones. A detailed report of every transaction from bets should be mandatory.60 c. Those sports that are dependent on huge public funding should be mandated to develop anticorruption and anti match-fixing laws. d. Sports betting attached to manipulation of result should be made a serious offence and should be penalised heavily. e. Insider information, manipulation of financial instruments and details should also be made an offence. f. A national recognized Criminal Investigation Department should be established to combat sports corruption. g. NGOs should be encouraged to bring independent action in instances of sport corruption. h. NGOs should organize awareness programme to educate people about the risk of being associated in such sports corruption.Recommendations for a combined work-force of Sports and Public Authority: Therefore I conclude that a combined work-force of sports and public authority should be established. The combined work-force should do the following: a. The public authority should enact a nationalized law criminalizing sports corruption and the sports authority should make in concurrence with the national law take severe disciplinary action. b. Working at the grass-root level the sports authority should conduct strict surveillance during sport events and inform the public authority under suspicion about irregular betting. c. The Criminal Investigation Department should use the aforementioned Intelligence Unit to infiltrate the criminal enterprise at the grass-root level and eventually penalise the criminals after carrying out a severe investigation. d. Betting Fraud detection system should be used based on sophisticated mathematical models which project what odds should be expected to be given a rational commercial market. This system is used for live betting and calculates changing odds from the start to the end of the match. The deviation from the standard odds placed by a bookie produces an alert.61 e. The combination of the Betting fraud detector and the corruption monitoring centre will prove to be a tougher system to beat by the match-fixers.

VII. Conclusion
While match-fixing has been a phenomenon which has been prevalent for a very long time in India irrespective of the sport precious little has been done about it especially in the legal field. It is an established fact that match-fixing is linked with illegal gambling and organised crime but unfortunately there is no penal statute in India. However, there are few laws which if widely interpreted can still bring match-fixing under its ambit but there is no practical enforceability as of yet. It can be placed on record that the Cronjie Scandal of
60 61

Ibid 56; pg 11. Ibid 2; pg 2

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2000 created a lot of hullabaloo and the government apparently would criminalize match-fixing. But just like every scandal fades away with time, the idea of criminalizing match-fixing also slipped away from the mind of our leaders. I feel that the disciplinary action taken by BCCI post 2000 have often proved to be inadequate to deal with match-fixing as it addresses only specific instances of misconduct within the control of the governing body, whereas the problem is of much larger proportions and extends far beyond the specific sport. I conclude that the mere acknowledgement of the dire need to criminalize match-fixing is not sufficient. The current scenario demands a legislation of stronger criminal laws which would heavily penalize illegal gambling or betting, illegal information trading, corruption and all the other activities associated to match-fixing. No longer should a man indulging in match-fixing should be dealt with using kid gloves. It is important to ensure that the criminal sanctions are imposed effectively. Despite imposing criminal sanctions what is more important is to treat the problem at its root. All the players, team officials and sports personnel should be ethically educated and morally made aware that indulgence in match-fixing is against their moral code of conduct. There must be a balance between morals, social values and the criminal law that has to be enforced effectively to combat match-fixing. Without high morals infused with effective legislation matchfixing cannot be curbed.

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