ICC on high anti-fixing alert for Champions Trophy

In the wake of the spot-fixing scandal surrounding the IPL and Bangladesh Premier League, the ICC is doing whatever it can to minimise the risk of corruption during the Champions Trophy, which starts in the United Kingdom on Thursday.

Players will have to surrender their mobile phones when they board the team coach to travel to matches and ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) officials will monitor behaviour around the hotels.

Six of the eight teams taking part, including their support staff, have been given an hour long presentation by ACSU officials on how to spot danger signs and raise concerns.

New Zealand and England will receive their presentation after Wednesday’s match. Bangladesh are not part of the competition. Cricket around the world continues to be under crisis with former Bangladeshi captain Mohammad Ashraful breaking down in tears as he admitted his involvement in match-fixing during a domestic Twenty20 competition. 

Indian cricket has been embroiled in a fixing scandal for weeks, with the arrest of three players, who were on Tuesday remanded in custody until June 18, and 11 bookmakers.

The global cricket controversy took another turn as former Australian cricketer Tim May quit as head of the international players’ union after eight years amid allegations of threats and intimidation. ‘More and more we see allegations of corruption and malpractice on and off the field dominating headlines,’ he said.