Pakistani cricket team caught up in betting scam during international match with England.
This is something that I am sure every sports fan has thought of once or twice in their lifetime while watching whatever game is their particular fancy. Is it rigged? And if it isn't, could just one or two players try and influence the game in a particular way to make the game more predictable for betters?
To me, this is a type of blasphemy I can't even begin to understand. Why devote your entire life to being the very best at something, and then lose on
purpose, just to make a few million more than you already have? As someone that played sports growing up, and is still passionate about them, I just cannot fathom that level of personal corruption. It bothers me in a way I can't begin to explain.
It's not as if these guys are extremely poor, and need money to just survive. Professional Pakistani cricketers are the equivalent of NHL hockey players in their respective country for fame, if not for pure salary.
Does the idea of high-level athletes rigging games for money bother anyone else? No matter how ill-guided the MLB's recent steroid abuses may have been, they still did it with the drive of being the very best at what they do. Their competitive spirit was TOO much. The idea of losing on purpose, though -- that's just perverse! The essence of greed.
The story:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/08/29/...ex.html?hpt=T2
Quote:
Sadness and anger have greeted claims of a betting scam linked to the Pakistani cricket team during its major international match with England in London last week.
British police arrested a man Saturday accused of plotting to fix parts of the game, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN on Sunday. The International Cricket Council, the sport's governing body, says that no players nor team officials have been arrested.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100829...licecorruption
Quote:
Britain's biggest-selling newspaper claimed several deliberate no-balls had been delivered by Pakistan bowlers.
The weekly tabloid said it gave 150,000 pounds to a middle man who correctly told them in advance precisely when those deliveries would be bowled.
[ . . . ]
It also ran a photograph of Pakistani captain Salman Butt standing with the man they claimed was the middleman, and one of their reporters.
[ . . . ]
The News of the World claimed their reporters had posed as front men for an Asian gambling cartel, paying 10,000 pounds to the alleged fixer as an upfront deposit.
They met again on Wednesday in a west London hotel room to hand over the rest of the money as their "entry ticket" into what they claimed was a "huge betting syndicate".
They claimed the middle man then correctly predicted when the no-balls would be bowled.
The newspaper showed the alleged fixer with piles of cash on a table.
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