Integrity is the Best Message to Customers - By Mohit Lalvani
Posted on - 14 May 2014
Integrity is the Best Message to Customers
Mohit Lalvani at the Asian Racing Conference 2014
The final day of the Asian Racing Conference ended with one very important message. This was that integrity in the sport was of paramount importance to ensure that racing would continue to thrive. The speakers for the second plenary session on the final day, which was on the topic of integrity, included Mark Warby, a Queen’s Counsel who is the legal advisor to the British Horse Racing Authority, Justice Mukul Mudgal who headed the IPL match fixing probe, Dayle Brown from Racing Victoria, Patrick Jay from the HKJC and the investigative journalist from Australia, Nick McKenzie.
It is a well-known fact that, like with any market place, horse racing betting markets are often open to manipulation. Over the years, racing fixing, doping and illegal bookmakers have hurt the industry like nothing else and the fact is that racing should have no home for such people. The investigative process must be thorough, fair and consistent across the world and the executors must have not just the teeth, but the will to administer justice swiftly and without mercy to those who are proven guilty as well. According to Mark Warby, the BHA has finally managed to come down hard on offenders despite it taking some time. He quoted the example of jump jockey, Graham Bradley who received an eight year ban which was reduced to five for selling tips to a convicted cocaine smuggler. His punishment is certainly a deterrent to others who fall within the jurisdiction of the BHA.
Jurisdiction is also an important aspect as is international cooperation between nations. A uniform code of punishment and sharing of evidence is a challenge today considering that syndicates and cartels that are part of the problem are also global in nature concurred Nick McKenzie. In a country like India, the Turf Authorities of India have been making strides in this direction at a domestic level but is still a long way away from a level playing field across clubs. One of the topics being presently debated, even if unofficially, is the allowing of legal representatives during hearings. At this point while practicing lawyers are not allowed to represent an accused, there is a growing acceptance that perhaps this should be allowed even if only by the board of appeal. This will help in the international reciprocity of punishments and since the Clubs function as quasi-judicial bodies and will also ensure that justice will not get held up by cumbersome legal processes.
Justice Mudgal is in agreement with this and in his presentation he touched upon the National Sports Development Bill which is awaiting parliamentary approval. It seems that Indian racing will finally get the teeth it requires to prosecute offenders once enacted even as the biggest windfall for the Clubs could be the legalizing of betting. In essence, since the only established legal betting boards in India are the totes that are not subject to manipulation as a bookmaker might be, it makes sense for the government of India to licence only the totes, as is the case in Hong Kong, to conduct legal betting in other sports such as cricket. If the Clubs are able to convince the government to do so at a tax rate that would combat the mushrooming of illegal bookies, the windfall to each club could be astronomical. With Justice Mudgal speaking on the challenges to successfully catch offenders, Australia and Hong Kong seem to have found ways to better the process. While Dayle Brown discussed the concept of the ‘control room’ to track and analyze trends and patterns that require early scrutiny, Patrick Jay mentioned that the number of investigators that the HKJC works with is large enough to keep an eye almost everywhere.
The underlying message was clear, that no matter what offenders come up with next, the authorities are not far behind and will do what it takes to maintain integrity in the sport.
The closing ceremony in the evening was in the parade ring at Sha Tin Race Course and as the ARC moves to Mumbai, India in 2016, the handover ceremony aptly punctuated an evening that brought together cultural events that were a mix of Hong Kong and India. The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the team lead by Andrew Harding ensured that this particular ARC was rated as one of the best ever and will certainly set higher benchmarks in years to come.
