Lorgat favours legalisation of sports gambling in India

ABU DHABI,  (Reuters) – International Cricket Council  (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat favours legalisation of  sports gambling in India while retaining his optimism for a  corruption-free World Cup in the sub-continent.

There has seldom been a cricket corruption of late without  an Indian connection and the clamour is growing to legalise  betting in a country where legal gambling is confined to  horse-racing while casinos are allowed only in a couple of  states.

Lorgat and his colleagues in the ICC have held discussions  about urging the Indian government to legalise cricket gambling,  according to a report in The National newspaper on Monday.

Haroon Lorgat

“I agree with the notion that if it is regulated it is a lot  better than if it is not regulated,” Lorgat was quoted as  saying.

“We have made inquiries, and these are the things we are  working towards.”

In the absence of official figures, media reports claim an  India-Pakistan one-day international draws bets worth $20  million through an illegal syndicate of which Mumbai is  considered the hub.

Lorgat, however, had no doubt that the Feb 19-Apr 2 World  Cup, which India co-hosts along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,  would be free of corruption with ICC’s anti-corruption unit  beefing up its presence.

“I am confident (the World Cup will be free from corruption)  for two reasons,” Lorgat said.

HONEST PLAYERS

“The main one is that the vast majority of players are  honest players. They do play the game in the spirit that it  should be played. They are not seeking to make gains out of  untoward means. “Secondly, we are alive to what could come to the fore in  terms of corruption. We have measures in place…

“I am satisfied we will have measures in place at the World  Cup. We will increase capacity because we realise things do  change.”

An ICC tribunal on Saturday banned the Pakistani trio of  Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were found  guilty of spot-fixing in the fourth test against England last  August.

Lorgat hoped the punishment would serve as a deterrent.

“I think it would take someone very brave not to take heed  of what has happened.

England captain Andrew Strauss shared Lorgat’s optimism.

“The important thing with any punishment is that it sends a  strong message to people who might be tempted to do it in the  future that if you do it, your career is going to be  substantially reduced if not completely destroyed,” Strauss said  in Perth on Sunday.

“I think this sends a pretty strong signal out there… I  think it is a good thing that the game is cleaning itself up.

“This is just the start of a process, only the ICC and the  relevant authorities know how far they are willing to dig and  how thorough they will be on it.

“But I would urge them to be as thorough as they possibly  can be on it because, as we’ve said before, if there is a whiff  of something dodgy going on, that degrades the whole sport.”