Sreesanth handed Life ban.

Headline says it all.

Full story from cricinfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/671043.html

No wonder nobody commented on it, everybody fears the issue, its very unfortunate such a sport once called "Gentleman Sport" going through all controversies.

1] While the guiltiest have to be punished, no idea why BCCI was in a rush to make its verdict before the court's decision on the issue, does BCCI think its bigger than Indian Penal Code?  

2]Its good to know the guilty is punished but what was the evidence for this conclusion, if there is any why not publish it in open so the public would be aware of it? No?  

3]What happened to the principle offenders? Administrators should be punished bigger than players and why are the left scotfree?  

4]If BCCI is not a government organization how on earth its allowed to represent "INDIA" tag, why not field xi as BCCI XI or BCCI rather than name "INDIA" ? aren't these culprits responsible for spoiling ICL saying the exact same reason as corruption and validation of results for not being a official league, now if ICL was handed that treatment why not IPL be handed the same treatment now?  

5]Last but not least match fixing and spot fixing is a crime, but this is not a criminal offence and hence players involved in it should be banned and not be prisoned, why are these players treated as criminals?  

It would be unfortunate for IPL be banned, but all the organizers involved in it be banned, IPL committee should be banned, the league should be banned and be re-organized quickly and more openly to have a fair system to encourage India youngsters to get the taste of real time big cricket.

The idea that because cricket is/ was a "gentleman's sport" nobody should ever do anything wrong is preposterous really. Ever since the early days there have been controversies, particularly those involving gambling.

I am personally not certain of life bans for spot fixing, particularly not for those who aren't the direct instigators of the crime. Whilst the reputation and integrity of the sport are terribly damaged, and the paying spectator ripped off, by fixing, I'm not sure that a mistake - which may have been brought on by pressures from above - should be punished with ending somebody's career. Four years out of the game should be a sufficient deterrent I would have thought, causing significant damage to the player's career and demonstrating that it is not acceptable.

An interesting comparison is with athletics and cycling. Drug cheats - even serial ones - usually get two year bans and are then allowed to compete again. I'd argue that cheating your way to the Tour de France/ an Olympic medal is a worse crime than altering part of a cricket match. Two years is too light but a life ban also seems too harsh.

Shelsey93 wrote:The idea that because cricket is/ was a "gentleman's sport" nobody should ever do anything wrong is preposterous really. Ever since the early days there have been controversies, particularly those involving gambling.

I am personally not certain of life bans for spot fixing, particularly not for those who aren't the direct instigators of the crime. Whilst the reputation and integrity of the sport are terribly damaged, and the paying spectator ripped off, by fixing, I'm not sure that a mistake - which may have been brought on by pressures from above - should be punished with ending somebody's career. Four years out of the game should be a sufficient deterrent I would have thought, causing significant damage to the player's career and demonstrating that it is not acceptable.

An interesting comparison is with athletics and cycling. Drug cheats - even serial ones - usually get two year bans and are then allowed to compete again. I'd argue that cheating your way to the Tour de France/ an Olympic medal is a worse crime than altering part of a cricket match. Two years is too light but a life ban also seems too harsh.

Shelsey
Sreesanth and co are not the first ones getting involved in this mess. The likes of Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja are already there, then there are Asif, Amir, Butt, Kaneria and Westfield in recent times. Despite all these players getting punished, if there are still people getting tempted, a life ban becomes the way to go about it, particularly if the player is an international one who has received the ICC/BCCI education on anti-corruption

good, ban the cheat!

the ones who got away....Gibbs, Stewart, Mark Waugh. Cairns
soon we might have a "ones who got away XI"  

Gibbs wasnt really a cheat was he? He agreed to score less than 15, and then went and hit 100.

kingraf wrote:Gibbs wasnt really a cheat was he? He agreed to score less than 15, and then went and hit 100.

he cheated some body in that case  

I thought he made 70odd, but the point is an interesting moral one if nothing else.

I don't see what possible good a life time ban can do personally. I understand it for a serial offender, but rather like life imprisonment (or the death penalty) I tend to believe in 2nd chances.

Cilic has just received a backdated 9 month ban for using PEDs by way of comparison. I'll let you decide which crime is the most heinous...

Snooker also facing similar issues.  Stephen Lee is facing a lengthy, possibly life, ban for being found guilty of match fixing on a number of occasions.  Difficult to see what the alternative is there for serious match fixing.

Life Ban it has to be for fixing.........nothing less.......but it should not be treated like a criminal offense thouhg

i think it should be a criminal offence, really. Sport is a business, a big money one at that. No different to price-fixing, logically speaking.

Fixing in sports should be explicitly criminalized. In India, as of now there is no explicit legislation dealing with fixing, so Sreesanth and co are in with a big chance to get away with what they've done.