Dubai: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, based on his experience which destroyed his career and reputation as a sportsman, has appealed to cricketers to refrain from indulging in match fixing.
Speaking to Gulf News, Johnson, who is here to attend the fourth international conference on sport versus crime being organised by the Dubai Police, said: “Cricketers should respond by preventing such acts. My advice to every cricketer is not to go on that route. You may do it to make some money and then will soon lose it all one day along with your reputation.”
Johnson shared his experience after he was disqualified for doping in 1998 Summer Olympics and revealed how painful was the after-effects. “Once you commit a mistake then your reputation is gone forever. No one will want to give you a job and no one will even want to look at you. Your life will be over for ever,” said Johnson, who also believes that cricketers need protection from bookies.
“I do believe from what I understand and what I read and also from my own personal knowledge, I think that the people who in the process of controlling the cricket are getting money or bribery from under the table to do wrong cause and favour each teams. This is not correct because they are killing the sport as it kills the confidence of the spectators who come to see a good clean sports contest without any corruption. This crime can easily be fixed if the government can take strong measures to punish the people that cause the problem.”
Urging cricketers to follow his advice, Johnson said: “When I did the mistake I did not have a second opinion and I brought it all on myself. I now teach the young generation not to make the mistake I did when you can gain success naturally through right training. I tell everyone if you fail it is not a shame. The drug incident overshadowed my natural ability.”
Johnson believes that role models like Sachin Tendulkar are very important for the sport. “Generations that are set to come in will want to become like him but in India some people are betting on matches and trying to fix matches. There should be zero tolerance towards it.”
According to Johnson, the temptation for money can force sportsmen to make mistakes. “There is greater prize money, bigger sponsorship and so some sportsmen may want to take a short cut to get there through cheating. In athletics, people who are making drugs are way ahead of the game in being caught through testing. The dosage what I used was very mild and today’s drugs are five times stronger. I want more funds allocated for programmes in detecting drugs. I want to convey the message of how harmful these drugs are in the long run.”
