Pitch-Siding:
During a match in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti-Corruption Unit nabbed two individuals for allegedly pitch-siding or court-siding.
- Pitch or court-siding is having somebody inside a sports venue and passing on immediate match-related updates to a bookie, who can use that information to change the odds and accept or reject bets.
- The few seconds of lag it takes to be aired on television gives them the window of opportunity.
- Though pitch-siding doesn’t necessarily count as ‘match fixing’ as none of the action is rigged, it is a side-effect of competitive betting that sports organizers have been aiming to quell.
- It is illegal not in all countries.
- Court-siding is not illegal in the UK, nor in New Zealand.
- However, tickets to most sporting events have it mentioned that it is illegal in the ‘terms and conditions section.
- Therefore, an individual caught has breached a condition of entry at the venue and can be evicted and banned.
- In India, betting is banned, therefore, any act of pitch-siding would be considered illegal.
