Sachin Karpe explains Match Fixing scandals

The game of Cricket has had a number of controversies linking to players being mixed up with the betting facet of the game. Particularly, players have been advanced by bookies and bribed to, lose a match or provide some information that should be kept under wraps.

With the recent IPL controversies having been uncovered, it makes the question all the more on our face. Is there no transparency left in our Sportsmen?

One of the earlier controversies that stunned Cricket fans across nations was in 1999-2000, i.e. the infamous India-South Africa match fixing scandal.

In the year 2000, the Delhi police intercepted a tête-à-tête between a bookie and the then South African captain Hansie Cronje in which they learnt that Cronje received money to lose matches.The South African government did not allow the Indian investigation Unit to question any of its players. A inquiry commission was set up and Cronje admitted to losing matches. He was straight away banned from all form of cricket. Cronje also named Saleem Malik (Pakistan), Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja. Jadeja faced a ban for 4 years. Rest were also banned from all form of cricket. As the linchpin, Cronje uncovered the dark side of betting; however with his untimely death in 2002 most of his sources also have escaped law enforcement agencies. Two South African cricketers, Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, were also listed as wanted by the Delhi police for their role in the match fixing saga.