London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it will meet representatives of the Qatar-based ‘Al Jazeera channel’ which has claimed to have unearthed ‘spot-fixing’ and ‘pitch-fixing’ in Test matches through a sting operation. It said that the allegations will not be brushed under the carpet.
The channel has claimed that pitches of matches involving India, Sri Lanka, Australia and England were doctored at the behest of match-fixers. The matches in question were India vs Sri Lanka (Galle, July 26-29, 2017), India vs Australia (Ranchi, March 16-20, 2017) and India vs England (Chennai, December 16-20, 2016).
The ICC which has launched an investigation, said that the news network has refused to share the unedited footage of the sting, a claim also reiterated by the boards of England and Australia.
ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson, however, said they are set to meet Al Jazeera officials very soon. “I am always concerned if people are talking about fixing in cricket. I am a little perturbed by the accusation that we would attempt to sweep it under the carpet, or pretend that nothing has happened,” Richardson was quoted as saying Thursday by The Independent’.
“So we will investigate fully. We are meeting with them (Al-Jazeera officials) in the next couple of days,” he added.
Richardson admitted that various Twenty20 Leagues, operating at the lower level, could be easy target for corrupt activities since stringent rules make it difficult to approach international stars.
“It would be very surprising if international cricketers were able to be got to. And therefore, because that target has been hardened, these guys are now trying to create their own leagues, at a much lower level. So what we need to make sure is that anyone staging a T20 domestic tournament – especially televised – that they have in place minimum standards, to make sure they have an anti-corruption code in place,” Richardson asserted.
I am little perturbed at the accusation that we would attempt to sweep the latest fixing allegations under the carpet. It won’t happen
Dave Richardson – ICC chief executive
