Former India skipper Baichung Bhutia feels betting should be legalised in the country to curb corruption in sport. However, his successor in the national football team Sunil Chhetri felt legalising betting alone will not act as deterrent for the players to desist from spot-fixing.
Describing the IPL spot-fixing scandal as “sad”, Bhutia said it would not tarnish the image of cricket.
“It is unfortunate. Players shouldn’t be greedy. Just because of a few players you can’t say the entire game is bad or the sport of cricket is bad. The game is bigger than any player,” Bhutia said on the sidelines of the Football Players Association of India award ceremony here on Thursday.
Bhutia is likely to feature in the All India Football Federation’s franchise-based tournament planned by IMG-Reliance next year.
Asked how events including the proposed IPL-style football tournament could be kept corruption free, he said. “In Europe betting is legalised and you don’t come across such scams everyday in football like one gets to see in cricket. I think legalising would make it better,” he said.
Chhetri however thought legalising betting alone wasn’t the solution. “We can legalise betting but how can we stop players from being involved in it (spot-fixing),” he asked.
Talking about football, the duo said inclusion of four new teams in the I-League would be good for the sport.
“It can motivate youngsters to make a good career out of sport,” said Bhutia.