New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS): India needs a law to curb corruption in sports like South Africa, Portugal, Italy and Sri Lanka, law minister Kapil Sibal said Monday.

"Perhaps, the time has come for India to examine the need for a specific law and a 360 degree vision to deal with the problem while protecting the essence of sports and sportsmanship," said Sibal while addressing a CBI meet to curb crime and corruption.

"Many countries such as South Africa, Portugal, Italy and Sri Lanka have come out with specific legislation to check corruption in sports," he said.

Sibal noted that "pursuit of excellence and participation in sports is one the purest of human activities. Unfortunately, corruption is seriously undermining the purity of sports through a wide array of activities such as match fixing, spot fixing, gambling, performance enhancing drugs and betting."

"There are reports that organised criminal gangs based outside India, in cahoots with counterparts within our national boundaries are reportedly active to fix even minutiae in cricket such as the outcome of each ball delivery, field placement.

"The enormity of the challenge is growing by the day. Self-regulation by sports bodies does not appear to have had a satisfactory impact," he said.