Fear of jail time will stop match fixing: Rahul Dravid

So I never got a feeling or a sense of what has happening when the CBI investigations were carried out and players were punished, said Dravid. But this time was very different. I was right in the middle of it and right in the thick of things.

When Rajasthan Royals’ Santhakumaran Sreesanth,Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested for their roles in the 2013 IPL spot-sixing scandal,Dravid was their captain.

You feel a sense of sadness and a sense of anger. I’ve been in both these dressing rooms,and it leads to an environment where everything is doubted, he said on Tuesday. When the investigations ended and the wrong doers were punished,we got some confidence back that there is some consequence to face.

Dravid paused for a few seconds before delivering the point of the night.

These consequences are important. According to me,there has to be (a) substantial jail term for the offenders, he said. I was reading this book by the cyclist,Tyler Hamilton (The Secret Race). He mentions how he and the other cyclists had no fear for the authorities when they were doping. The only thing they were scared of was getting caught with drugs while crossing international borders. Because if they got caught,it wouldn’t be a ban. They would be jailed. That is the fear that will stop people from throwing away matches.

Few eminent personalities from the game have taken a stance,despite fixing being rife in cricket. Dravid did so in the presence of Chris Eaton,responsible for making football a cleaner sport and Ravi Sawani,chief of the Indian cricket board’s anti-corruption cell.

Taking Dravids cue,Shekhar Gupta,Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express and moderator of this panel discussion,said: But Mohammad Azharuddin,far from being jailed,is a member of parliament. Isn’t that frustrating Mr Sawani?

Sawanis answer cut to the point.

Azhar as MP frustrating

I feel the frustration (concerning Azhar) far more than anybody else,having done the work and then seeing it all falling flat. There was sufficient evidence against him and he had confessed to his crime. Not only confessed,he had written,in his own hand writing,a note that was later recovered by the Income Tax authorities from his future wife’s apartment, said Sawani. The fact is that the public accepted and voted for him. And there is very little we can do to change that apart from keeping him away from the sport.

Eaton,however,didn’t agree.

Players are not the problem. Like I said earlier in my speech,the real problems affecting modern day sport are betting syndicates and criminals, he said.

During his 20-minute speech,Eaton illustrated with the help of four points and a presentation,just why organised fraud had increased exponentially in football.

The popularity of the sport. The fact that it is now a ruthless business. The global economy had shifted to Asia,where the gambling market is nine times as large as in Europe. And that the bets can now be placed online, Eaton said. Put the four together and you have a perfect storm.

Dravid began his speech with the rules that Bhisma had laid down to Yudhisthira for a just war. No poisoned arrows,no unlawful conquests.

Sport,the modern day battle,is at serious risk of losing its moral compass, he said. Today we stand at a crossroads.

Self-regulation structures will prove to be inadequate. For example,no sporting body has the ability under the laws of the land to conduct surveillance on communications or conduct search. A sports body’s jurisdiction is limited only to punishing insiders. These deterrants are inadequate, Dravid said. But is that a reason to give up on sport ? Certainly not. It is a battle worth fighting for and sport always gives us an opportunity to lead from the front.

On Tuesday,Dravid certainly did.

CBI chief: No harm legalising betting

CBI director Ranjit Sinha on Tuesday said there was no harm in legalising betting because there was no point in a ban which cannot be enforced.

Asked by The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta for his views on legalising betting,Sinha,who was on a panel discussing ‘Ethics and integrity in sports Need for a law and role of CBI’,said: “If we can have lottery in states,if we can have casinos at holiday resorts. If the government can declare schemes of voluntary disclosure for black money,so what’s the harm in legalising betting. Besides you’ll have enforcement agencies to look into it.”

He added that it was easier to call for a ban than to enforce it.

Earlier,Rahul Dravid said,”I think if the law enforcement authorities do feel that legalising betting will lead to better governance and reduce corruption then I am all for it.”

Ravi Sawani,chief of BCCI’s anti-corruption unit said legalising betting would in no way help in reducing corruption in the game. Late in the evening,CBI issued a clarification on Sinha’s statement,saying,”The context was an opinion on legalising betting by Shekhar Gupta… A voice vote was taken from Sawani and then Rahul Dravid and the Director,CBI made a point if laws cannot be enforced that does not mean that laws should not be there. PTI