Fresh spot-fixing claims by Al Jazeera; ICC asks for footage again
Al Jazeera has brought fresh claims of spot-fixing on Sunday but the ICC refuted the 'assertion' and questioned the broadcaster's refusal to share the footage with them. Players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Umar Akmal were also spotted in the dossier footage with match-fixer Aneel Munawar.
The Qatar-based news agency Al Jazeera made a video available on YouTube in May in which they stated that the Ranchi Test of 2017 between India and Australia and the Chennai Test of 2016 between India and England were "session fixed". They also alleged that the person involved in the preparation of the pitch used for the 2016 Sri Lanka-Australia Test in Galle and the 2017 Test between Sri Lanka and India had been willingly doctored, which created a lot of stir among the fans.
Now, another report came out that on “the evidence, from 2011 and 2012" a small group of England players were involved to carry out spot-fixing in seven matches, Australia players in five matches, Pakistan players in three, with players from other teams carrying out the sin in one match.
However, that again irked the ICC as the channel is continuously dodging the ICC's request to share the raw footage with them.
“As with the first programme we have and will continue to ask for the cooperation of the broadcaster. We have made repeated efforts to engage with the broadcaster as it can play such a crucial part in the full and thorough investigation it has called for,” ICC Anti-Corruption GM Alex Marshall said in a statement, reported Cricbuzz.
In the second round, the matches that have been under scanner are the 2011 Lord's Test between England and India and the 2011 Cape Town Test between South Africa and Australia, along with five matches in the 2011 World Cup and three in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.
“The files suggest that the suspected fixes were usually carried out by batsmen who agreed to underperform. Some of the world’s most famous players were batting when the fixes allegedly occurred. Many of the matches appear to include multiple fixes, making a total of 26 fixes in the 15 matches,” said the report.
However, in a bigger revelation, the channel also claimed that its dossier photographs have of Mumbai-born Dubai based alleged match-fixer Aneel Munawar and his associates talking to Indian cricket players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and a Pakistan keeper Umar Akmal during the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2012. However, the channel made it clear that there is no suggestion that these players were involved in any such activity.
“As you would expect we will again take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make seriously and will investigate fully. However, I must refute the assertion that cricket does not take the issue of corruption seriously, we have more resources than ever before working to rid our sport of corruption,” Marshall said.
“The investigation into these allegations has already commenced and will run alongside a number of other live unrelated investigations. When considering the claims, we will work with professional independent betting analysts.”
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