India Union Law Minister rejects sports betting legalization

The Union Law Minister of India, Sadananda Gowda has rejected the idea of legalizing sports betting in the country, stating that efforts should be taken to eliminate betting instead, according to an interview with the Economic Times.

Recently, India’s Supreme Court appointed a committee headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha to look into legalizing sports betting as one of the measures for improving cricket administration in the country.

The Lodha-Committee report  backed legalizing sports betting and also recommends changes to prevent sporting fraud and match fixing, which FICCI believes is a much needed change to the industry.

Industry body, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) had welcomed the suggestion to legalize betting in India to help prevent corruption.

"Sports betting and frauds have been affecting the credibility of sports in the country. After frequent incidents of sports fraud around sports betting, in 2012, Ficci had launched the debate on regulating sports betting in India." the industry body said.

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