Another week, another match-fixing scandal.

Or, rather, a pair of them.

The scandals have come thick and fast in 2016, but the latest seem determined to stick around. First came revelations that local cricket hasn’t been on the level. Then, the ugly underbelly of international tennis was revealed with extensive match-fixing claims.

Similar events, but not the same. In the first instance, the claim that Gulam Bodi and his cohorts have been involved in fiddling Ram Slam fixtures is proof that cricket’s anti-corruption efforts are working. They may not be stopping the cancer, but they are exposing the enablers. This is a good thing.

Tennis’ problems go back far longer, almost a decade, and the big question to be asked is why international tennis bosses never took sweeping action at the time. Even if you assume that only some of the allegations are true, tennis has long had dirty fixtures when all was not what it seemed.

It matters little that none of the superstars are obviously involved – big money can be riding on the most obscure matches. Around 120 000 professional matches take place annually; opportunities are boundless.

Six little-known players have been banned for life in the past 10 years, but the breadth and scope of the latest allegations suggests that tennis hasn’t nearly got to grips with a problem most players are said to be well aware of.

One of the encouraging aspects of cricket’s anti-corruption drive is that even players who are approached (and do nothing) are compelled to report the fact. A couple of local cricketers are said to be in trouble on this basis, although as one former Proteas batsman told me on Sunday, Bodi was often a funny, offbeat guy who few took seriously anyway. Defining intent and clarity will trouble even the best investigators.

However, the rule itself is a good one that should also apply to tennis. Novak Djokovic, for instance, revealed that he had been indirectly approached a few years ago to swing a match. The instigator never spoke to him personally, but you wonder if this attempt was ever brought to the attention of tennis bosses.

You suspect that the nature of cricket betting, with its faceless moneymen and shady overseas bookmakers, will make it fiendishly difficult to secure convictions.

However, the precedents are encouraging. Pakistan’s Saleem Malik was the first cricketer to go to jail for match-fixing, in 2000, and since then another 18 international and 13 first class players have copped bans ranging from six months to life for fixing games. They include our own Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams (both six months) and, most famously, Hansie Cronje (life).

Five days ago Sri Lankan cricket authorities handed bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake a two-month ban over his relationship with net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, who allegedly approached national players to under-perform during a Test against West Indies in October.

With both cricket and tennis, the fraud isn’t perpetuated only on people placing bets. Fixing games defrauds fans who watch on the assumption that what they are seeing is real. The betrayal is massive.

As with tennis, the fraud need not occur at elite level in cricket. Ram Slam cricket is low-brow hit-and-giggle stuff, but it enjoys an international audience and the opportunities for match- and spot-fixing are plentiful.

This week’s events represent a significant crossroads for both sports. The zeitgeist around the local game is dark and downbeat, particularly after England’s brutal evisceration of the Proteas. It’s not so much the manner of defeat that rankles, but the shuddering realisation that our stocks are dangerously low. We could be set for a few lean years. Having a match-fixing scandal on top of this will only add to the disappointment.

Tennis, too, will need to take serious stock, lest it suffer the sort of fallout endured by the likes of the Tour de France, the IAAF or Fifa, whose recent scandals have imperilled their sports almost beyond repair.

These are demanding and difficult times for sport. Given how much emotional (and financial) investment many of us have in sport, the masters of the game are duty-bound to make sure it’s clean and honest.

It’s not too late, even now. – © Sunday Tribune