Will The IPL Become More Vulnerable To Fixing In UAE?

By Jaspreet Singh | INNLIVE

1. BCCI is doing everything to rid Indian cricket of corruption. Hmmm...okay agreed. 
2. BCCI has all the money in the world to clean the game (if they want to). Agreed. 
3. BCCI now has strict anti-corruption measures in place. Agreed (though not sure if practised).

But if the above equates to even 50 per cent truth, why will a board that's fighting court cases of corruption in the Indian Premier League (IPL) would want to take that very tournament to a region which the national team decided not to enter after the 2000 fixing controversy?

BCCI's decision to stage the initial part of IPL 7 in the UAE has led to fresh finger-pointing at the Indian board that has repeatedly failed to pull its cash-rich league out of the betting and fixing muck.
India turned its back to cricket in the gulf since the turn of the century, which saw India in the middle of a fixing storm that led to life-bans being handed to national players, including the then team captain Mohammad Azharuddin.

The Sharjah Cup, which often was played with celebrities from India and Pakistan and underworld dons in the stands, had become the hotbed of betting and fixing, with stories of players and dressing rooms being visited by 'wanted' men becoming commonplace.

But it wasn't until the Indian and South African (Hansie Cronje) captains had to pay for their wrongdoings that the world was introduced to the devil of 'fixing' that has since repeatedly raised its head and seemed to have nailed its tent in IPL grounds.

Fourteen years later, the who's who of Indian cricket will return to the UAE, not in national colours but with their IPL franchises, but then that's where the devil resides.

UAE may not be the same as in 2011, in that the security and vigilance may have been raised manifold. Maybe Bangladesh, possible venue for the second phase of IPL 7, is as vulnerable as the UAE - with the Bangladesh Premier League also fighting corruption. 

Taking the league to South Africa in 2009 didn't prove to be a smooth ride either, forcing the banned former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi securing himself in London after being accused of financial irregularities in that edition of the league.

BCCI's intentions may be right and its Anti-corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) may be putting strict measures in place to put IPL 7 in a sterile zone, but on the face of it, the decision shows lack of concern towards public that now doubts the originality of the IPL, and in the UAE, the BCCI will have its task cut out to win that trust back.