Justice Mudgal joins Asian Football Confederation to help check betting

Former Delhi High Court judge Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Mudgal Committee that carried out investigations in the IPL 2013 betting and spot-fixing scandal, has been roped in by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to curb the increasing menace of fixing and betting in the game, around Asia.

Mudgal is now a member of the powerful AFC Governance Reform Task Force, reported Firstpost.

Match fixing and betting during football matches in Asia have reportedly been on the rise in recent times and the AFC's Disciplinary Committee in April had provisionally suspended two Thai referees, Thanom Borikut and Chaiya Mahapab, for allegedly being involved in match-fixing.

It is also reported that even the Indian football matches have attracted bets from top betting websites around the world and it has also raised concerns if there is an active illegal football betting market within India itself.

"I have offered them [the AFC] some ideas which can help control fixing and betting in the game," Justice Mudgal told the publication. "The mandate is to clean soccer in Asia. We are all working towards it," he added.

Mudgal also mentioned that match fixing in football, which is a lucrative $15 billion business, is seen by criminal gangs as an attractive hunting ground, especially in Asia, where the betting regulations are not so strict.