Al Jazeera not cooperating in the match-fixing investigation, says ICC

Earlier on Sunday, a Doha-based leading TV channel released a documentary where certain names were seen to be involved actively in match-fixing as well as spot-fixing stunts. The channel carried out a sting operation with the help of journalist David Harrison, who posed in front of the bookmakers and fixers as a business interested in the same. The allegations revolve around three matches in particular, all of which involve the Indian team.

The India vs Sri Lanka match at Galle on July 26-29, 2017, the India vs Australia match in Ranchi on March 16-20, 2017 and the India vs England match in Chennai on December 16-20, 2016 are the three matches which are in the highlight of the accusations.

Galle pitch curator Tharanga Indika is the one responsible for letting India score 600+ runs in the first innings of the Galle test, while there is a possibility that some Australian and English players were involved in fixing the other two. However, no Indian cricketer’s name has popped up in the controversy.

Al Jazeera refuses to co-operate in anti-corruption

The ICC, in order to embark on the investigations into the matter, asked the TV channel to share with them whatever information they have gathered on the case, unedited and unabridged. It would speed up the enquiry manifold times and help the anti-corruption squad get to the bottom of the matters much more quickly. However, Al Jazeera has refused to cooperate in the same, as said in a statement released by ICC.

“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 statement said.

“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 unedited and unseen evidence they are in possession of, to enable us to expedite a thorough investigation.”

ICC officials have seen the documentary video where the different characters reveal their identities and how they went on about the fixing business, and ICC claims to be dead serious about the allegations.

“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,” ICC said.

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