New Delhi: BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, has introduced three private member bills including a significant 'National Sports Ethics Commission' bill which recommends "10 years of jail term" for any sportsperson indulging in match-fixing.
It is a significant step taken by Thakur considering that the BCCI has been mired by fixing scandal that rocked the 2013 IPL witnessing the arrest of three tainted cricketers including former India pacer S Sreesanth along with Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan.
"It is only fair to bring in accountability to be fair to sports lovers. As such there is no law which is there to curb match-fixing. It is absolutely mandatory to have a law that can combat the menace," Thakur told PTI when asked as to what made him introduce the bill in Lok Sabha.
According to the bill that has been placed in the Lower House, it's objective is "to establish a national sports ethics body to ensure ethical practices in sports as well as strive towards elimination of doping practices, match fixing and fair play, fraud of age, gender and sexual harassment of women in sports."
The bill further states: "This comes as an aftermath of the recent corruption and match fixing charges that were thrown up in Indian Cricket and other sports by multiple players.
"The concerned players are currently charged under inappropriate sections of Dishonesty and Cheating under Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Prevention of Corruption Act in the courts but the sportspersons often get easily free because these laws don't apply for sports."
