DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked Al Jazeera to share evidence that would help the governing body further investigate corruption in the sport after the news organisation aired a documentary on the matter last weekend.
The ICC launched a probe after the “Cricket’s Match Fixers” programme showed a groundsman agreeing to tailor pitches for test matches involving leading teams. “I ask Al Jazeera to release to us all the material they have relating to corruption in cricket,” ICC CEO David Richardson said in a statement on Friday. “We will conduct a full, thorough and fair investigation and ensure no stone is left unturned as we examine all allegations of corruption made in the programme. To do so, we need to see all the evidence they state they possess.”
The programme claimed that the stadium manager at Galle in Sri Lanka may have doctored the pitch at the behest of fixers and suggested minor Twenty20 events had also been targeted. It also alleged incidents of spot-fixing in a Chennai match between England and India in December 2016 and the Australia-India test in Ranchi in March 2017.”We understand and fully respect the need to protect journalistic sources and our ACU (Anti-Corrpution Unit) team have worked with other media companies on that basis,” Richardson added.
“However, to prove or disprove these allegations, we need to see the evidence referred to in the programme.“Match-fixing has become a major concern for the sport in recent years with a high-profile incident involving Pakistan on a previous tour to England forming one of cricket’s low points.
Pakistani trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who is back playing for the national team, were part of a gambling-inspired plot to bowl no-balls at pre-arranged times during a test match against England at Lord’s in August 2010.All three players served time in prison and were handed multi-year bans from the game after a ICC tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing.
Team UAE's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates his first Giro d'Italia success in Rome last month....
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in action during his final match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at All England Lawn Tennis and...
Pakistan cricket team in Test outfit. — AFP/FileLAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has planned to hold the upcoming...
Afghanistan´s captain Rashid Khan celebrates during their T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight cricket match against...
Pakistan women’s cricket team palyers seen training in this image.— PCB/file KARACHI: A four-day training camp...
Three-time WBC world silver flyweight boxing champion Mohammad Waseem seen in this image.—...