Feature
India not in danger of losing hosting rights of Champions Trophy, World Cup
New Delhi: India are not in danger of losing the hosting rights of the 2021 Champions Trophy and 2023 World Cup despite tax exemption issues, the International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO David Richardson declared on Thursday, ending speculation that has swirled around the two events.
The Indian government refused to give tax exemptions to the ICC when the country hosted the 2016 World T20 following which the game’s governing body asked the BCCI to either pay USD 23 million (Rs 161 crore) as compensation or lose the 2023 World Cup rights.
“Getting tax exemptions is very important for world cricket because every cent that is made by the ICC revenue wise is put back into the game. This helps countries like the West Indies who don’t generate as much revenue,” said Richardson at an event to announce a five-year partnership with Coco-Cola.
“But having said that there are no plans of taking away the hosting (from India) and I’m sure we will get it (exemption) in the end, we’ve still got a lot of time,” he added.
The schedule for the 2020 T20 World Cup was announced earlier this week and India and Pakistan won’t meet in the group stages for the first time since 2011.
Richardson explained that the groups were decided on the basis of rankings and there was no credible way for the two neighbouring nations to meet before the semifinals.
“We have arranged the groups in a way that has credibility and is based on the ranking system. The teams are placed according to their ranks. In this case, Pakistan were number one in the rankings in their group and India number two,” Richardson said.
India in no danger of losing hosting rights of Champions Trophy, World Cup 2023:
“…we found no credible way of putting them in the same group. Hopefully from a world perspective they will meet each other in the semifinals or final.”
One of the serious problems the ICC is facing is the ever-increasing threat of corruption in the game, Richardson said the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) is pro-actively working to curb the menace.
“It’s not just about anti-corruption but also about player conduct. In recent times, we have had several unruly incidents around the world and we have taken really firm steps there to make sure that everybody understands we need to protect the spirit of cricket.”
“We have taken a more proactive approach to disrupt the actions of certain frivolous individuals that wander around trying to fix cricket matches. We continuously are trying to disrupt them as much as possible and the players are doing the right thing by reporting any incident.”
Richardson, who will step down after the World Cup in July, was asked about the highs and lows of his time in office, the South African said convincing India to use DRS was a memorable achievement for him.
“Some things took a little longer than we’d like to implement. One of them was to convince India that DRS was a good thing. It probably took so long because in the first trial that we conducted, all the decisions seemed to go against India. So we had to convince Anil Kumble that it could work,” he said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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