The Indian cricket board (BCCI) may have become a tad wiser this season in trying to ensure that the game, even at domestic level, remains free of spot-fixing.
After scandals over the last two years, where it came to light that not just IPL games but televised inter-district contests too are vulnerable to fixing, the board has issued directives for taking extra steps.
Before the Ranji Trophy season, it issued circular directing secretaries of state units to allow only accredited personnel inside the dressing rooms and grounds. Players, support staff and other officials must be issued proper accreditation cards and headshots of players and officials entering the dressing room must be put out. It was missing at the Roshanara ground where Delhi played their first match, but things are in place now that the team is back playing at the Kotla.
The BCCI, however, has too few anti-corruption officials and has told each association to nominate its own Anti-Corruption Liaison Officer (ACLO). For the ongoing Delhi-Rajasthan game, DDCA has appointed two of its officials because the board’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU) official will arrive only for the next match.
The BCCI’s anti-corruption body is in its infancy and the board has said it is trying to train more officials. As things stand now, it is up to the host associations in over 90% of the matches. Who they appoint, and whether they have any grounding in anti-corruption rules, is a grey area.
{{/usCountry}}The BCCI’s anti-corruption body is in its infancy and the board has said it is trying to train more officials. As things stand now, it is up to the host associations in over 90% of the matches. Who they appoint, and whether they have any grounding in anti-corruption rules, is a grey area.
{{/usCountry}}While the board has maintained that the state units will have to keep a strict watch on teams staying in hotels, there is no way to keep a tab on home players. One of the DDCA-appointed officials has a room on the same floor of the five-star hotel where the Rajasthan players are staying. However, the question is how do you monitor the home players, Delhi in this case, whose players come from home.
“At no point of time, the players or support staff are to entertain any guest in their hotel room except a blood relation, wife or fiancée,” says the directive.