New Delhi: Ex… IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi have claimed that match-fixing still exists in cricket, although they refrained from making any allegations against cricket. Indian Premier League (IPL) says the tournament has become too lucrative for players to risk their careers.Modi, who has lived primarily in London since leaving India in May 2010, spoke on Wisden Cricket’s podcast The Scope on a range of topics, including corruption and match-fixing in cricket.When asked if fixing still exists in the IPL, Modi said corruption in the sport has evolved and is becoming increasingly sophisticated.“They are fixing in cricket. It has gone to a very sophisticated level. Whether it is in the IPL, I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I don’t know. And I can’t tell you because I don’t really know. But I believe it is everywhere. Every game has its problems. I can’t answer yes or no to tell you the truth. And I’d like you to play them all. Do not cut this part because otherwise people will take it the wrong way. Because I’m telling you very clearly: I don’t know,” Modi said.The former IPL chief, however, said that he does not believe that there is a practice of fixing in the IPL as the tournament involves huge sums of money.“I don’t think it will happen in the IPL because the money has become so big. It is so big that there is no reason for the players to settle because they have so much to lose.”Modi instead pointed to smaller domestic and regional leagues as more vulnerable to corruption due to a lack of governance and oversight.“But I can tell you for a fact that in a lot of the minor leagues, you’re going to see games being manipulated. Not in the major leagues, but in the minor leagues, and especially in the minor leagues, it’s all about fixing. You will see many entrepreneurs starting these small inter-city leagues, inter-area leagues and inter-state leagues. There is no corporate governance. There is nothing there. You don’t even see television coverage. It’s all about repression,” Modi said.“And if you look at the betting market today, it’s huge. If you have Rs 40,000 crore being bet per day – not per season, per day – and you have 100 games, it’s a $40 billion industry in cricket alone, which nobody is talking about. It’s huge, and something that has problems.”“Cricket lends itself to ball-by-ball batting, with the odds of changing every delivery. For lack of a better word, that’s the reality. And the minor leagues are toxic. Very toxic,” Modi said.
