(Reuters) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it has not found sufficient “credible and reliable evidence” regarding the spot-fixing claims made by Al Jazeera in 2018 and will not bring any charges under the governing body’s anti-corruption code. The Al Jazeera programme “Cricket’s Match Fixers”, broadcast on May 27, 2018, 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. The documentary also made allegations that the stadium manager at Galle in Sri Lanka may have doctored the pitch at the behest of fixers and suggested minor Twenty20 competitions had also been targeted.
The Dubai-based governing body said it had engaged four independent betting and cricketing specialists to analyse the claims and all four concluded that the passages of play identified in the programme were not likely to have been fixed.
“We welcome the reporting of alleged corrupt activity within cricket as there is no place for such conduct in our sport, but we also need to be satisfied there is sufficient evidence to sustain charges against participants,” said Alex Marshall, ICC general manager – integrity.
“On the basis of the programme, the Participants to the Code who were filmed appear to have behaved in a questionable manner, however, we have been unable to assess the full context of the conversations that took place beyond what was seen on screen versus what the Participants claim actually happened.
“This combined with the absence of any other credible evidence means there are insufficient grounds to bring charges under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.”
