Asia Cup 2018: Tournament Under Scanner After Afghanistan Player Approached by a Bookie
Updated - 24 Sep 2018, 10:36 PM
The Asia Cup 2018 is in full flow and at the moment India looks the likely side to return triumphant. They have been the only unbeaten side in the tournament so far and has played like champions. However, the tournament has come under the scanner of the Anti-corruption unit. As per sources, it is learnt that an Afghan player was approached by an Indian bookie ahead of the Pakistan game. The player immediately reported the matter to the team manager. He then coordinated with the Indian staff and reported it to the anti-corruption officers.
The Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ASCU) has already had a number of inputs regarding bookies in the Middle East and it is a real concern for them. It is learnt that the ACSU team has reportedly looked into Sri Lanka’s early exit from the tournament. They lost two back to back matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan to bow out of the tournament.
Asia Cup has come under the scanner
Two ACSU officers have come in the middle east for this particular tournament. The ICC Anti Corruption officer Beer Singh is also keeping a close eye on the current happenings in the Asia Cup. Meanwhile, the ICC is also wary of the number of leagues which is happening around in this region. The Pakistan Super League, the T10 League as well as Afghanistan Premier League will be played in Dubai. All the tournaments will be played in Dubai and the UAE which is considered as the official breeding grounds for bookies.
Coming back to the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup, it has been a closely fought tournament so far. Barring India all the three other teams in the Super 4 has been competitive against each other.
Afghanistan has been quite unlucky so far as they lost two pretty close games against Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both the matches could have gone either way. On the other hand, the final Super 4 match between Bangladesh and Pakistan will be a virtual semi-final. Whoever winning the match will meet India in the final of the tournament.
