The Board of Control for Cricket in India seems to be stepping from one slippery slope to another, especially as far as its most prized event, the Indian Premier League, is concerned.
Soon after "re-negotiating" the deal with the Chinese company holding title sponsorship rights, it has handed the same for IPL to an online gaming company.
The company's primary business is to encourage speculation online about performances of players in different roles. Not very different from what race-goers would do at a horse race ... place bets on the performance by different participants in each event!
While most state governments in India strictly ban betting in all forms, including sale of lottery tickets, it appears the company seeks to buy legitimacy for its operations by jumping on the IPL bandwagon. After all the IPL is the most popular annual single sport event in the country and definitely among the top 10 in the world.
There was a time in India when almost every state and Union Territory ran its own lottery business. But slowly it has all been canned and road-side stands displaying lottery tickets are only a distant memory.
Cricket has just about recovered from its brush with the betting industry, especially that seeks to control on-field activities to suit its bottom-line. Spot-fixing has been severely punished and, in recent times, even approaches by dubious persons connected with the clandestine world of betting have been handed exemplary punishment by the International Cricket Council.
Since IPL has been found to be a ripe candidate for plucking by the shady characters of the betting world, BCCI would have been better advised to steer clear of such alliances, especially at the very top.
At least till such time as betting on sports events gains legal sanction from the government, as is the case in quite a number of countries. IPL has been a pioneer in many ways for Indian sports, but this route is completely uncharted territory!
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