( NEW DELHI)
As the tennis world reels from match fixing claims,fresh scandals have embroiled cricket,sparking scepticism of efforts tackle corruption that has plagued the gentleman's game in recent years.An explosive report this week claimed match fixing in tennis was repeatedly going unpunished,while world number one Novak Djokovic said he was once offered $2000000 to fixing match in Russia.The report came after the sports world was stunned by allegation of doping cover-ups in athletic and a string of scandals engulfing ,footballs,governing body FIFA.But corruption claims have also returned to haunt cricket,threatening once again to sully the sports which has been battling to club the influence of illegal bookmakers on matches.Sri lanka this week suspended their fast bowling coach amid a police investigation in to alleged attempts to bribe players to under perform in a test match against the West Indies in October.
In one of the biggest cases last year,New Zealand star Chris Cairns was acquitted of perjury charges in November linked to a match fixing case.Lawrence Booth,editor of Wisden Cricketers Almanack,warned that the case could deter player from coming forward to report wrong doing.Although the result was vindication for the all rounder the treatment of witnesses in the case such as New Zealand's Brendon Mc Cullum could make players think twice about coming forward,he argued.Players who cooperated with investigations,had confidential testimony leaked and could have their characters assassinated by defence lawyers.I think the concern over the out come of the Caims trial is that it may dissuade other cricketer's to come forward and testify against their former team mates,which is a crucial element of the battle against corruption,Booth told AFP in an email.
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