By Sunrita Sen Mar 23, 2007, 14:59 GMT
New Delhi - As cricket fans in South Asia geared up to watch an all-night World Cup cricket tie between India and Sri Lanka on Friday, Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer's murder cast a cloud over the game's marquee event being held in the West Indies.
Woolmer's murder in Port of Spain came less than 24 hours after his side suffered a humiliating defeat to Ireland that resulted in Pakistan being eliminated from the 16-nation World Cup as the country had already lost its opening game against the West Indies.
Cricket in India, or in Pakistan and Sri Lanka is not just about sport. It is also about big money and there are fears that Woolmer's murder may have something to do with the darker side of the gentleman's game.
The sport has to deal with big-time betting run by shadowy syndicates and backed by the criminal underworld. There have been ugly allegations of match fixing given the millions at stake and speculation is currently rife that Woolmer may have been a victim of the betting mafia.
In one of the earliest reactions to Woolmer's death, former Pakistan bowler Sarfraz Nawaz told Indian television channel NDTV that a betting syndicate may be behind the coach's death.
Betting is allowed only on horse racing in India but this does not stop punters from putting money on sporting events and cricket tops the list. In the local parlance it's called 'satta.'
'Betting can be anything between 5 billion and 30 billion US dollars a year,' said an official of a special crime cell based in the western Indian city of Mumbai.
'There's betting at every level, in the neighbourhood, cities, intra-region,' said sports columnist V Krishnaswamy.
But the big mafia-supported betting syndicates are based in the Pakistan town of Karachi, India's economic hub Mumbai and in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, said the Mumbai police official.
Talking to investigators, cricketers and cricket commentators the following appeared to be the broad modus operandi of the betting mafia: - outsiders are not allowed into the closely guarded big-money betting ring. Clients usually have a code known only to the betting ring operator; - text messages on mobile phones, emails and Internet forums were earlier the common way of placing bets, but now with investigators on the prowl some operators send boys with chits of paper with the bets on offer to their clients' homes; - bets are placed not only on who will win, but centuries, half-centuries, dismissals - just about anything; - bets can be changed while the match is on; - the money changes hands after the match is over usually through illegal channels, often transnational and operated by the underworld; - Mumbai underworld mafia, including mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, who reportedly lives in Karachi or a Gulf country, is heavily involved.
An unofficial estimate doing the rounds says the 51 World Cup matches may see betting worth more than four billion dollars taking place in the cricketing nations of South Asia.
Given the sheer scale of betting, it is hardly surprising that there have been many cases of suspected match fixing in recent years where players have allegedly accepted huge sums of money from bookies to change the swing of a game.
Former South African captain Hanse Cronje, who died in a mysterious air crash, had confessed to having been paid huge sums by bookies in a case that is still being investigated by the Indian police.
Other names that have cropped up in match-fixing scandals include former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Pakistanis Salim Malik and Rashid Latif, South Africans Hershell Gibbs and Nicky Boje and Australians Mark Waugh and Shane Warne.
The Anti-Corruption Unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) was set up to investigate match-fixing. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed has said the unit will look to see if corruption has played any role in Woolmer's death.
India media reports say bets worth 90-135 million US dollars were placed during that crucial Pakistan-Ireland match - Woolmer's last - with the odds heavily against Ireland. Pakistan's unexpected defeat would have meant a substantial windfall for the bookies.
But for the game's passionate fans in South Asia, cricket is both a sport and a religion, with space perhaps for betting but not for match-fixing.
India's first match loss against minnows Bangladesh and Pakistan's loss to Ireland saw posters of players being burnt and some of their houses attacked by irate fans.
All this creates unbearable pressure on the players and their coaches. India coach Greg Chappell was recently attacked by an unhappy fan in eastern India for not including members from his region in the team.
'At the end of the day cricket is just a game. The surge of emotions that go with cricket in the subcontinent needs to be tempered with reason,' former Indian Cricket Board member Chandu Borde was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
On Friday, hours before the crucial tie between India and Sri Lanka where a defeat would mean India returning home - like Pakistan - Indian television channel NDTV hyped the match through the day but added: 'Do remember, it's just a game.'
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