Corporates, crime, cricket

It is tempting but totally flawed to link the latest Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scam to growing corporate interest in cricket and the crass commercial culture that it has supposedly imposed on a gentleman’s game. Yes, cricket is an advertiser’s delight, as the format of the game allows television commercials to be aired between overs. This is unlike other sports such as football, which has just one half-time break during an entire game. Moreover, cricket’s popularity in India, which extends well beyond the metros, provides a huge number of eyeballs for companies to promote their products in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. No platform has exploited this potential better than IPL, which symbolises the ultimate convergence of sport, entertainment, money and, cynics might now add, scandal.

Again, it could well be true that cricket – especially, its shortened T-20 version – is a gambler’s delight. The game is quite amenable to laying bets not only on match results but even on micro outcomes — for instance, whether a batsman will score a half century or how many runs a bowler may concede. The present IPL scam is precisely about such micro or ‘spot’ wagers with the added crime of some players themselves being involved. Instead of playing the game normally, they appear to have performed below-par in specific overs, allowing bookies to make a killing.

The moot question, however, is whether this is linked to IPL and its so-called corporate influence. To start with, spot or even match fixing isn’t a new phenomenon specific to IPL. The Pakistani cricketers convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker were playing Test cricket. Morever, betting syndicates with strong underworld connections predate IPL and other organised corporate incursions into the game. Linking the two is far-fetched. On the contrary, if corporate houses view sponsorship of teams and players basically as part of their larger brand-building strategy, they are unlikely to either promote or remain unfazed by nefarious activities. Corporates use the players they ‘own’ to endorse their products, but it is foolish to imagine they would risk damaging the reputation of their brands. The illegal cricket betting taking place now, and before, should be seen for what it is – organised crime – and must be dealt with firmly. It is not enough to serve life bans on the cricketers; while their guilt is something only a court of law can pronounce upon, it is important that they are charged and tried under the strictest provisions in our criminal law. Only this will serve as a deterrent against spot fixing and match fixing.

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