Corruption not at large in the IPL but definitely exists, says Neeraj Kumar

06/01/2018

Neeraj Kumar, the outgoing head of the BCCI Anti Corruption Unit (ACU),. has stated that corruption in cricket is unchecked on most occasions and major leagues like the IPL are more prone to scandals. Kumar retired yesterday after a three-year tenure and Mr. Ajit Singh is set to take over the role.

Neeraj Kumar has served the role of the head of the ACU for the BCCI for three years and as he took permanent leave from his post, the Bangalore Mirror Bureau fired a series of questions at him, as he was leaving Mumbai for Delhi. He noted that anti-corruption measures are half-hearted and human trafficking is rampant in the game. On being asked about his experience, he replied by saying that it was "very rewarding" and explained that he got a different perspective to corruption in cricket especially in these three years.

"That is...that is mostly about the emerging trends of corruption in Cricket," he said.

A recent sting operation revealed that fixing and betting still pollutes cricket culture and Kumar stated that the extent of corruption can never be measured.

"Just because something has come to light, it does not mean that it has become more and just because nothing has come to light, it has become less. There is no way to measure corruption." He explains that the threat of corruption preavils in cricket as much as other sports and the step forward is that the world has recognized the threat and is working on taking stringent measures to prevent it.

Kumar feels that the measures taken to prevent corruption in cricket are very "half-hearted" and "not adequate". When asked if the case was so in the Indian cricket or world cricket, he replied "Both". He took the cases of a few cricket boards who did not invest enough to appoint officials for a corruption board. West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka have only one office for the ACU while India has a meagre three members.

"Therefore, the boards are still not fully cognizant of the extent of corruption and are not willing to invest in anti- corruption work. I would not say the same about the ICC (International Cricket Council). It is well equipped. But because of the funds (rather lack of them) and attitude, the boards do not understand the enormity of the problem."

As the question was asked on the purity of the IPL tournament, the outgoing ACU head explained that it is "by and large corruption free" but just because nothing has happened it does not mean that there was no "hanky-panky" involved. As it is a high-stake tournament, it is much more vulnerable to corruption.

"We have unearthed them and managed to disrupt them too. Because of that, a number of leagues that were planned were abandoned. The only reason for having such leagues was to make money out of betting and fixing. The game goes according to a script, some of them would even be listed on betting sites. We succeeded in controlling rather than eliminating them," he said.

"The second big success was preventing attempts of pitch-fixing in the IPL last year. We arrested some in Kanpur. The third thing was that we caught agang headed by a certain Vijay Barate with the help of Mumbai crime branch and busted his gang which was cheating players by luring them with offers in the IPL. We arrested one person called Saurav Bhamri, who was involved in cheating cricketers in Bareilly. We have also unearthed a racket in human trafficking," he added.

When asked to elaborate on the threatening phrase "human trafficking", he said that people are taken to Australia and England for club cricket and left behind.

"I hope the ACU will continue to follow up on that operation. Human trafficking in cricket is quite rampant," he said.