Court bid to halt IPL

India's Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking to scrap the remaining matches of the country's lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition.

India's Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking to scrap the remaining matches of the country's lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition.

Published May 21, 2013

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New Delhi - India's Supreme Court will hear a petition on Tuesday seeking to scrap the remaining matches of the country's lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition amid growing concerns about corruption in sport.

Former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The case has prompted the Indian government to look at the possibility of introducing a law to combat matchfixing and spot-fixing.

Cricket fan Sudarsh Awasti, an architect by profession and self-declared social activist, has lodged the petition with the court demanding the scrapping of the remaining four IPL matches, including Sunday's final.

He has also called for a special investigation to be launched to get to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal and for the league to be banned from next year.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing while illegal betting syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amount gambled on India's top cricket Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009. – Reuters

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