Youth coaching among top 3 business areas for new sport ventures: FICCI-Dextrasport Report

NEW DELHI, October 23, 2013. A FICCI-Dextrasport report on ‘Best 25 Ideas’ - Sports Start-ups Businesses in India, reveals that even though professional sports is something which India is not  known for being good at, youth coaching is among top 3 business areas where  new ventures are working on. A number of ventures focussing on variety of sports have grown rapidly, testifying to the fact that there is high acceptance of professional coaching across a number of sports across the country.   

FICCI reached out to over 600 firms out of which 25 were selected in the report to do a detailed analytical report on the subject.

Another important highlight is the popularity of football as it is the DNA of a  lot of new ventures. It states that entrepreneurs running sports related businesses are highly motivated individuals whose heart and mind lie in sports.

More than 70% of promoters of new start-ups confessed that the main reasons for entering sports business was their "passion for sports”, apart from the existing vacuum, and the opportunity to create an impact. The success stories on start-ups around sports are expected to act as great learning experience and inspire a new generation of sports enthusiasts who will contribute to the growth, development and professionalization of Indian Sports sector.

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India not yet ready for regulating sports betting, says Delhi Police special commissioner SN Srivastava

New Delhi, June 25, 2013. The time is not ripe for legalizing betting in sports as it could not be established at this stage that such an action will bring down match fixing, said  S N Srivastava, Special Commissioner, Delhi Police, at FICCI’s interactive session on ‘Regulating Sports Betting: Way Forward to Counter Match Fixing’

In the light of incidents of match and spot fixing in the recently concluded IPL in India, many stakeholders are advocating creation of a new stricter legal framework and legalization of sports betting to keep a check on match and spot fixing.

The moderator of the session Sanjiv Paul, Chairman Sports Committee and MD, Tata Metaliks, voiced the misgivings in the minds of stakeholders on sports betting, its possible regulation and issues related to addictive tendencies of vulnerable classes. 

Srivastava who is heading the team investigating the IPL fixing case said while on the one hand, regulating sports betting can help in generating revenues in the form of taxes from betting operators and will play as a deterrent for the young who indulge in the act. On the other hand, he said, we must not forget that betting is not approved by our society and we also lack the requisite education and awareness in this regard.

He agreed that India is in need of stringent laws in sports but the country is not yet ready to accept regulation in betting. He suggested that legalizing of betting could be considered 10-15 years later.

Albert Climent, founder, Bluesea-Gaming.com and Adviser, Asian Gambling Brief, assured that India is ready for regulating sports betting and it will reduce match fixing because the authorities will work in tandem with betting operators and not against them. The betting operators will not encourage match fixing as they would want to earn profits and will be answerable to the authorities.

But here it must be kept in mind that only reliable operators are issued licenses and they comply with all the pre-requisites. He pointed out that it would be easier to track the flow of money and once India legalizes betting, it will automatically come under the ring fence which will allow Indians to bet with Indians only and help in keeping the Indian money spent on betting in the country itself.

While sharing his views on the subject, George Oborne, managing director, India Bet.com, said that he is in favour of legalizing sports betting in India and gave examples of regulated markets where match fixing reduced considerably after betting became legal. However, he emphasized that laws need to be rebuilt and rewritten from India’s viewpoint to make this framework effective. 

Vidushpat Singhania, senior associate, Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan Attorneys, stated that sports is marred by two evils – doping and match fixing and later is a bigger menace. FICCI report shows that betting market in India is around Rs. 300,000 crore, hence we first need to assess how accurate this number is, how big is the betting industry and what are the other intricacies that have to be taken care of before regulating betting in sports. Then, a social impact study will have to be undertaken and a committee will have to be set up where all the relevant stakeholders must be consulted on the issue. Betting needs to be regulated but there are many issues which have to be dealt with first.

Harsimran Kalra, public policy scholar, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, said that first it must be ascertained, who are the people who indulge in this activity and have sufficient data on it. Then we should look at the money transfers that take place and determine the source and amount. Another aspect which must be considered is the impact of regulating sports betting on society.

Abhijit Sarkar, co-chairman, Sports Committee and Head Corporate Communication, Sahara India Pariwar, said that at present ambience in sports arena in India is gloomy due to the spot fixing scandal in cricket. Fixing is not new in sports. Besides cricket fixing is rampant in football. However in most of the incidents, the accused is not punished because of lack of evidence and legal framework. Hence, we need to restore faith in sports by putting in place deterrents and harsher punishments.

Press release

FICCI calls for regulating sports betting to counter spot fixing

New Delhi, May 24, 2013: In the wake of latest controversies related to spot fixing case in cricket and revelations of role of underworld in leveraging ban in sports betting, FICCI has once again reinitiated its call for regulating sports betting in India.

Despite several attempts to ban it, betting is continuing albeit in an underground way and substantial resources have been invested into enforcing such a ban; Thus middle way out is it should be regulated in a way which reduces this to an acceptable level. Hence, the Government should think of legalizing and regulating betting.

India is continuing to lose billions of dollars in taxable revenue (an estimated Rs. 12-20,000 crore annually) through black marketing operations in sports betting. According to FICCI, the greatest advantage of regulating sports betting is going to be the accountability for the large amounts of money transferred through illegal channels and reduction in cases of match fixing, money laundering and crimes.

If gaming and betting is regulated in India, it will benefit exchequer and could potentially fund sports development, social protection or welfare schemes and infrastructure development plans.

In a representation submitted to Government, FICCI has highlighted how blanket ban on sports betting has been impossible to be sustained without a proper regulation. In fact, this representation also highlighted the number of international examples of different countries who have benefitted from regulating the betting, added FICCI sources.

A system which seeks simply to prohibit rather than control gambling is turning its back on the problem. Ban cannot be implemented but sports betting can be controlled with proper regulation to prevent further deterioration of conduct of sports in country. When regulation arrives, it is true that problems are revealed, actions need to be taken and policies are enforced. FICCI realizes the negative aspect of sports betting on the society. 

The question now is how to tax the money involved in gambling and we need to devise a system which encourages betting operators to function openly. We also need to devise systems for protection for the young and vulnerable against the dangers of unwise betting behavior but these can be addressed only if we spot the victim and which is possible only through proper regulation. Active regulation is the only real solution – whether the underlying philosophy is to permit or restrict.

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