The authorities in India are on high alert for illegal betting activities with the 2021 IPL fast approaching. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest and richest T20 domestic cricket league in the world.
The 2021 IPL edition is expected to start on April 9 and will run till May 30. The IPL will take place in India this time and will be held across six neutral venues. There will be cricket matches on just about every day during this six week period and sportsbooks across India are expecting a significant increase in betting action.
Cricket is the biggest religion in the Indian sub-continent and the IPL is the biggest cricketing extravaganza. While betting is banned throughout India, there are a number of offshore betting websites that are currently taking bets on the IPL.
These betting sites register a massive spike in betting action and IPL authorities and the national police always keep a close watch on these betting sites to see if any of them register any illegal activity. The IPL has been married during the last decade after it came to light that bookies had bribed certain players and individuals to spot fix and match fix games.
The IPL suspended two franchises (Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals) for two years since they were involved with illegal betting. Since then, Indian authorities and the IPL governing body keep a close looking out for match fixing.
Indian authorities are unable to do much about these offshore betting websites for now and hence they are able to take bets from Indian punters on the IPL.
What the authorities are concerned about is physical IPL betting. This is where punters set up shop in India as illegal sportsbooks and start taking bets via phone or in-person. The police in Ahmedabad recently made multiple arrests as it found illegal bookies taking bets on the 5th and final T20i game between India and England.
They found two individuals had entered the stadium with vendor passes as this was a no spectators game. The two individuals were on their phones throughout the game passing information back to bookies in different hotels in the state. This was done to offset the broadcast delay that is usually
The IPL 2021 final is scheduled to take place at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad and the authorities are keen on stamping out all forms of illegal betting.
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