The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) held a conference on Tuesday to celebrate it's fiftieth year and they took the opportunity to raise the issue of corruption in cricket. A panel discussion came to the conclusion that legalising gambling in India would be the most effective method of reducing corruption in cricket.
Rahul Dravid, along with a number of government ministers, was present and added his voice to the chorus of support for legalising sports betting. Whilst the comments were largely positive, Ranjit Sinha added further controversy to the debate by comparing betting to rape. He has since apologised but the strange analogy has caused the topic to make headlines.
Whilst the media have picked up more on Sinha's comments than the issue of regulating gambling, the national media have begun to warm to the idea of legalising gambling in India. Adam Gilchrist on Wednesday also commented on the topic agreeing that it was a sensible solution to an endemic problem.
The debate over regulating gambling in India is becoming a more and more frequent topic of news, however it is very much in the nascent stages of development. The controversial topic has only recently entered the national social and political psyche and more action will be needed to further the cause.
The government has very little to work with in terms of a legal and regulatory system. For gambling to be properly legalised and for a purge on corruption and criminality to begin, first there needs to be the creation of a coherent set of laws on the subject and then there needs to be a regulatory committee set up to enforce those laws.
With an undecided public and an upcoming general election, it is unlikely that we will even see the beginning of those things until 2015 at the very least.
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