Mumbai: International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit chief Ronnie Flanagan on Sunday said that the violators in the game are currently focusing on spot-fixing rather than fixing an entire match.
“The corrupters try to look for not just bowlers but also batsmen. ICC have made a booklet which players can keep in their wallet where everything is mentioned about what to do and what not to do about the anti-corruption code, rules and responsibilities,” Flanagan said at a press conference here.
“The corrupters can find one batsmen and tell him to get out below ten runs. I think at this age it is very difficult to fix a match, so they try to manipulate a single bowler or batsman or fielder to drop a catch or lose his or her wicket and that’s what is spot-fixing. All anti-corruption managers will talk to the players both men and women of every teams before the matches about what they think,” the 66-year-old said.
When asked if betting can be made legalised in India, the retired senior British police officer said that it is not something which is going to happen.
“First of all if we talk about countries where betting is legal and heavily regulated, we have a memorandum of understanding with the legitimate betting industry and we find that is helpful because they report to us on any unusual spike in betting about a particular event or a particular time and we investigate it and they stop taking bets when that happens,” he said.
“Some people ask us as to why countries like India or Pakistan not legalise betting and then control it? The truth is that for very good reasons it is just not going to happen and we have to accept that fact. And while that is a fact we have to do our best to research through the methods and find out what is going on in the illegal betting market,” the ICC Anti-Corruption chief said.
Flanagan added, “I don’t think it is for me to suggest what a sovereign nation (India) does. But I do say where betting is legalised it is heavily regulated and they work in close conjunction with us so it does assist us.”
“But that is not for me to suggest what a wonderful country like India should do in terms of its legislation or its law. If it decides to pass that then we will be seeking close collaboration with the regulators who would govern then what would be a lawful activity.”
