Thaindian News

London, Sept 19 (ANI): The British Government has pushed through plans of constituting a new intelligence unit in a bid to target international gangsters and corrupt sportspersons, following the latest spot-fixing revelations involving the Pakistan cricket team.

“Match-fixing is a cancer that destroys the integrity of sport and we are determined to do whatever we can to stamp this out,” News of the World quoted Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sports and the Olympics, as saying.

The Sports Betting Intelligence Unit, one of the key recommendations in former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry’s report on sports betting integrity, will collect and analyse information about match-fixing and illegal gambling.

The government will tell bodies such as the Professional Players Federation (PPF) to draw up a new code of conduct on betting integrity this week, and will work towards ensuring that young players coming into professional sports are trained about the hazards.

Apart from these, the government also plans to lobby countries where illicit gambling exists - such as India - to legalise it, so it can be properly regulated.

Robertson has already written to Indian sports minister MS Gill to keep the topic high on agenda at the meeting of Commonwealth Sports Ministers at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Delhi next month.

He is also planning to meet International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar at the Games to discuss the issue. (ANI)