INDIA’S sorts minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday (May 23) said he has been forced to hang his head in shame due to the IPL spot-fixing scandal, insisting that a deterrent law would prevent the credibility crisis that cricket is facing right now.
“It is very shameful. As a young person, as a sports fan, as the sports minister of the country, my head hangs in shame today,” Jitendra told reporters in Gurgaon.
“There should be some mechanism so that it doesn’t happen again. And it is not only about cricket. We are talking about cricket because of this expose but there are other sports as well. We have to take preventive action from today onwards. We are working towards it and as soon as we get it, we will take action,” he said.
The Law Ministry is mulling a new anti-fixing legislation to deal with the menace after the latest scandal in which three Rajasthan Royals cricketers were arrested. In fact, several other murky details of the betting racket are tumbling out everyday with police conducting country-wide raids to nab bookmakers, who have underworld connections.
“We are in touch with the home ministry and the law ministry to work out the law. We will consult the Attorney General before moving forward,” he said.
