By: Shelbin MS
INDIA’s cricket anti-corruption chief has said that an investigation has been launched after one of the players in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) revealed that he was asked to leak information about his team.
“A player has been approached. He himself immediately reported it,” said Ajit Singh, anti-corruption chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“We are looking into it. No further details can be given at present.”
The IPL is in its third week and is being played behind closed doors in the United Arab Emirates because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Singh said the “relatively unknown” player, whose identity was not released, was asked to leak some information about his team.
Before the tournament started authorities said that the ‘bio-bubbles’ would make it easy for any illicit approaches to be noticed.
The BCCI last month struck a deal with Sportradar, a technology company that tracks online betting.
The money-spinning IPL has a long history of corruption and match-fixing since it started in 2008.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was suspended last year for failing to report corrupt approaches, one of them involving the IPL.
A 2013 scandal caused the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals to be suspended in 2015 for two seasons.
Cricketers globally are expected to report any such corrupt approach and failure to do so can result in a ban.
The ongoing IPL, started on 19 September, ends on 8 November.
