CHENNAI: In an interesting development aimed at rooting out betting and corruption, the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) has entered into an agreement with Sportradar for the next three seasons to ensure the smooth running of the league.
The league had run into controversy after the 2019 edition concluded when allegations of match-fixing in the tournament surfaced.
While the internal probe committee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) concluded that there was no merit in the allegations, there were also reports that the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the BCCI had found betting worth Rs 225 crore being made on one game on international site Betfair. Other T20 leagues in the country have also witnessed similar issues.
Although a source insisted that the partnership with Sportradar - the leading supplier of sports integrity solutions - had nothing to do with past events, the alliance will definitely help the league steer clear of such controversies.
Sportradar has been providing integrity services to the BCCI for the IPL as well. Its Fraud Detection System (FDS) will track betting data in real-time and review each game to look out for any suspicious activity.
"We had been in touch with Sportradar for the last 6-7 months. We finalised the deal sometime last week. They will give us reports before a game, during a game and after a game. If they find any anomalies, they will report to us. And we will, in turn, pass it on to the BCCI," the source told The New Indian Express on Monday.
The source said that it was important for the league to bring Sportradar on board in order to have access to the intelligence reports on possible corrupt activities.
"There are around 4-5 agencies who do this work. We decided to work with Sportradar since it is one of the leading companies. It has been doing a similar role in the IPL for the last 3-4 years if not more," the source explained.
"BCCI gets the intelligence reports for the IPL from these people. They have an MoU. We also wanted to get this intelligence information in so that we are also aware and pass on the necessary information to the BCCI ACU," he added.