MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council is grappling with arguably the worst match fixing crisis to hit the game in ICC’s history after Al-Jazeera aired a damning documentary alleging pitch doctoring and match fixing in three recent Test matches.
Even worse, the report by the Qatar-based international news channel’s Investigative Unit alleges that India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim’s mafia syndicate D-Company is at the centre of it all.
The ICC’s anti-corruption unit has said that it is taking the allegations made in “Cricket’s Match Fixers” extremely seriously and an investigation is underway.
“The ICC has now had the opportunity to view the documentary into corruption in cricket and as we have previously stated, we are taking the contents of the programme and the allegations it has made extremely seriously. A full investigation led by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, working with full cooperation from all Member countries identified in the programme, is now underway to examine each claim made,” Alex Marshall, ICC general manager, anti-corruption unit stated.
He, however, requested the television channel to comply and share the un-edited video with the Council.
“We have been in ongoing dialogue with the broadcaster which has refused our continual requests to cooperate and share information which has hampered our investigation to date. The content of the programme, is of course useful to the investigation, but I would now urge the production team to provide us with all un-edited and unseen evidence they are in possession of, to enable us to expedite a thorough investigation,” Marshall added.
The matches in question are 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).
While India won the match against Sri Lanka and England, the match against Australia ended in a draw.
The channel also alleged the involvement of some Australian and England players in spot-fixing.
The Indian connection to the latest scandal is a former Mumbai cricketer Robin Morris, who is alleged in the documentary, the end result of an 18-month investigation, to be a match-fixer and Gaurav Rajkumar, his business partner from Dubai.
In the sting operation, Morris is seen introducing a pitch curator to the undercover reporter. He is also boasting about getting pitches doctored as sought by fixers.
Targeting players
The match-fixers say they have targeted players who are at the beginning or near the end of their career. “They are on the fringes,” Rajkumar says, pointing at images of players on his laptop.
Morris says every player will be paid £1,000 [$1,330] per match but the ones doing his and Rajkumar’s fixing work will receive £35,000-£40,000 [$46,600-$53,300] per match.
In secretly recorded meetings, Aneel Munawar, a match-fixer from Mumbai who works for D-Company, told Al-Jazeera reporters that they could make huge sums from betting on his information.
“Indian intelligence sources confirmed that Munawar works for D-Company. The syndicate controls most of India’s huge illegal betting market said to be worth $60 billion a year,” the report said.
“I’m telling you, each script I give you will happen, happen and happen,” he said as shown in the documentary.
“Sixty to 70 percent of matches we can set … fix,” he said, adding that he has been involved in match-fixing for “six to seven years”.
Chris Eaton, a sports integrity expert and former Interpol sports corruption investigator, told Al-Jazeera: “The claim by Morris that he can set up an entire tournament for the purpose of corruption – of course it rings true to me. I’ve seen it in football.
“I’ve seen entire tournaments being manipulated for the purpose of betting corruption and betting fraud.”
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that it has a zero-tolerance approach to any activity or act that brings the game of cricket to disrepute or mars the integrity of the game.
The BCCI’s anti-corruption unit is working closely with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption unit on the alleged claims by a television channel, the body said in a notification.
The cricket boards representing the countries mentioned in the sting operation responded had varying responses to the documantery, from outright denial of any problem by the England and Wales Cricket Board to immediate suspension of the persons named by Sri Lanka Cricket.
SLC Statement
Consequent to a letter received from the Minister of Sports Hon. Faiszer Musthapa PC with regard to the above, the executive committee of Sri Lanka Cricket convened an emergency meeting this evening (27th May, 2018) and arrived at the following decisions.
SLC will complain to the Criminal Investigations Department against the persons who have been allegedly involved in “Pitch Fixing” as reported in the Al Jazeera documentary.
SLC decided to suspend with immediate effect the alleged individuals involved in the said incident against whom ICC is carrying out investigations.
SLC will fully cooperate and offer all assistance to the ICC on its investigations on the said Al Jazeera documentary which has wider allegations globally.
SLC appointed a 03 member committee consisting of Mr. Mohan de Silva, Air Commodore Roshan Biyanwila and Mr. Channa Weerakkody to submit a report within 03 days, making recommendations on the existing protocols; applying to the management and staff of every venue and to implement safeguards to prevent occurrences of such incidents in the future.”
ECB statement:
In response to the Al Jazeera broadcast, “Cricket’s Match Fixers”, Tom Harrison, chief executive officer of the ECB, said: “There is nothing we have seen that would make us doubt any of our players in any way whatsoever.
“The limited information we have been given has been discussed with all the England players.
“They emphatically deny the allegations, have stated categorically that the claims are false and they have our full support.
Harrison continued: “Neither ECB nor the ICC is aware of any credible evidence connecting any England players to any form of corruption.
“ECB had been aware of the planned Al Jazeera documentary for some time but have not been given the full content.
“There have been repeated requests for any evidence and unedited materials to be shared with the ICC so they can fully investigate.
“We, like other member Boards, are disappointed that Al Jazeera have not been more cooperative and responsible when making such serious allegations.
“ECB has a regular dialogue with the ICC and its anti-corruption unit, fully supports its work and will continue to cooperate with their review.”
CA statement:
Together with the ICC, we are aware of the investigation by Al Jazeera into alleged corruption in cricket.
Although not having been provided an opportunity to view the documentary or any raw footage, our long-standing position on these matters is that credible claims will be treated very seriously and fully investigated.
Cricket Australia will continue to fully co-operate with the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit in its review of the matter.
Neither the ICC or Cricket Australia is aware of any credible evidence linking Australian players to corruption in the game.
Cricket Australia and the ICC take a zero-tolerance approach against anyone trying to compromise the integrity of the game.
We urge Al Jazeera to provide all un-edited materials and any other evidence to the ICC investigation team, so, if appropriate, a full and thorough investigation can be conducted.
Australian cricket is proactive with its sports integrity management and Cricket Australia has an Integrity Unit to oversee and maintain all domestic cricket in Australia, including BBL and WBBL matches.
In addition to this, prior to the start of each Australian season, all professional cricketers are required to participate in anti-corruption education sessions before being eligible to compete in CA’s domestic competitions.
