NEW DELHI: Indian cricket authorities have petitioned the country’s top court to make match-fixing a criminal offence in a bid to ramp up the pressure on illegal bookmakers and bent players.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the world’s richest cricket body, has argued to the Supreme Court that “the act of match-fixing constitutes a criminal offence”.

The BCCI said it had stepped up to protect the sport, in court documents seen by AFP on Thursday.

“The prevalence of corrupt practices in cricket matches has an adverse impact on the game and undermines the integrity of the sport,” the BCCI wrote in documents filed with the court registrar on Oct 14.

The BCCI’s legal argument is that match-fixing counts as cheating by deception — an existing offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — and therefore should be counted as a crime. The case continues.

The appeal stems from allegations of match-fixing during a state cricket leag­ue in 2018-19 in Karn­ataka involving six people — including two players, the coach and team owner.

The High Court in the southern state dismissed it as a criminal case in 2022.

The first major scandal in Indian cricket to make headlines erupted in April 2000 when police intercepted calls between bookmakers and South African captain Hansie Cronje during his team’s tour of India.

Cronje confessed to throwing matches and named India’s then captain Mohammad Azharuddin as the person who introduced him to bookmakers.

The BCCI instituted its own anti-corruption codes in 2019, which give the board the power to issue fines and lifetime bans.

“Public confidence in the authenticity and integrity of the sporting contest is vital,” the code reads, submitted to the court.

“If that confidence is undermined, then the very essence of cricket will be shaken to the core.”

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2025