ICC Appeals For Information On Suspected Match-Fixer

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Tuesday (August 28), made an appeal in order to find the one remaining suspected match-fixer from a recent documentary.

Earlier this year, Al Jazeera, rocked the cricketing world by releasing bits and parts of the sting operation, showing the different forms of corruption in the game.

In the investigative documentary, “Cricket’s match-fixers,” the news outlet showed former players and ground-staff were seen promising undercover reporters of rigging matches.

Former Pakistan international, Hasan Raza was one of those individuals caught on the camera alongside Indian cricketer Robin Morris. Raza could be seen explaining few other men about facilitating spot-fixing in Twenty20 tournaments.  In the video, the Pakistani cricketer could be seen seated next to Morris, a former professional cricketer from Mumbai. Both Raza and Morris had played together for Mumbai Champs in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) between 2007-08.

ICC Appeals For Information On Suspected Match-Fixer
The ICC has been investigating since Al Jazeera released the documentary (Credits: ICC)

Morris then explained how they are planning to set up a corrupt tournament in Dubai. He said no A-grade players will play but he can bring in B, C, and D grade players.

Another individual also claimed the outcome of England’s Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, starting in November, can be influenced. It alleged the pitch can be doctored so that a draw is impossible.

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Al Jazeera also revealed the name of two Sri Lankan involved – Tharindu Mendis (former first-class player) and Tharanga Indika (Assistant manager of Galle cricket stadium). The duo promised to prepare the pitch according to the needs of an undercover journalist posing as a businessman.

During the conversation, Indika also claimed to have doctored the Test pitches in the past. He claimed he had altered the surface for India and Australian Test in 2017 and 2016.

With the video taking the game by storm, the ICC didn’t take long to launch a full investigation. And now, they have made the appeal as a part of that very investigation. ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has not managed to get hold of an individual named Aneel Munawar, an alleged fixer. The apex body has thus released an official statement, seeking help on the matter.

Alex Marshall, General Manager ICC ACU, said:

“We have identified every other person in the original documentary and have spoken to a number of them in connection with match fixing, including those who are not deemed to be participants under our Anti-Corruption Code.

“However the true identity of Aneel Munawar remains a mystery. He plays a significant role in the programme. Yet enquiries with law enforcement and immigration sources have not identified or located him.

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“As such we are appealing to the public or anyone from within the cricket family to contact us with any information that will lead us to identify and locate him. Police investigations often use such an appeal to locate people of interest and we are exercising the same approach.

ICC Appeals For Information On Suspected Match-Fixer
A photo of Aneel Munawar from the documentary (Credits: Al Jazeera)

“The absence of any cooperation from the broadcaster has slowed the investigation, but to date we have made good progress in identifying people of significant interest including people already of interest to the ACU. We have been able to discount a number of claims made in the programme and continue to pursue other aspects. We will provide a full update at the conclusion of the investigation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the programme makes have suggested that Munawar would remain central to a second documentary.

“We are aware that there is a second documentary in the offing, this time based on historical recordings between a fixer, suspected to be Munawar and bookies in India. As with the first programme, we will investigate any claims made in a full and thorough manner and we take any allegations of corruption, historical or contemporary, extremely seriously. Based on what we already know, we have engaged the services of an independent betting analysis company to examine the claims made about particular matches.

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“As with the first programme we have, and will continue to ask for the cooperation of the broadcaster. Access to the raw, unedited footage enables us to build a complete picture around the claims in the documentary and ensure our investigation is as fair and thorough as possible,” said Marshall.

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