The ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) is likely to
recommend that its members adopt stronger anti-corruption laws to
prosecute players, match-officials and franchise owners found guilty of
corrupt practices in domestic Twenty20 leagues. Sir Ronnie Flannagan,
the chairman of the ACSU, is expected to address these concerns during
ICC's annual conference, which begins at the Lord's cricket ground
today.
Flannagan is expected to highlight the threats and challenges, and give
recommendations to ICC members on how to curb the dangers of corruption.
These concerns come in the wake of various corruption crises that have
taken place in the last year, exposing the loosely-fit anti-corruption
mechanisms that are used in lucrative domestic T20 leagues like the
Indian Premier League (IPL), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the
Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).
In May, three IPL players, including the Indian fast bowler Sreesanth, were arrested for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing. A franchise owner, Gurunath Meiyappan, was also arrested for alleged involvement in betting a few days later. In Bangladesh, Mohammad Ashraful confessed
to indulging in corrupt practices during the BPL. Last year, the news
channel, India TV, carried out a sting operation in which match
officials were caught on video agreeing to divulge information.
However, the Indian judicial system has no specific law yet to deal with
corruption in sport and the ACSU fears this might allow perpetrators to
get way easily. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also face the same issue and
culprits cannot be held under criminal offence in the absence of
relevant laws. Hence, Flannagan is likely to recommend that members, and
the three countries in particular, ask their federal governments to
institute a law to discourage people from getting involved in corrupt
practices and corrupt elements.
One of the other important issues likely to come up for discussion is
the decision on the venue for next year's World Twenty20, scheduled
between March 16 and April 6 in Bangladesh. Recently the Bangladesh
Cricket Board (BCB) raised a red flag on the delay in setting up proper
infrastructure to meet the original deadline set by the ICC. BCB
president Nazmul Hasan, who went public with his displeasure
over the slow work at two of the four venues, is likely to address the
ICC board on this matter. The members are likely to discuss options -
from setting new timelines or conducting further inspections to moving
the tournament to another country as a viable alternative.
The five-day annual conference begins with the Associate and Affiliate
Members' meeting (June 25), chief executives' committee meeting (25-26),
governance review committee, finance and commercial affairs committee,
and the HR and remuneration committee meetings (June 27-28). These will
be followed by the annual conference on June 28 before the two-day ICC
Developm
ent International board meetings on June 28 and 29.
One of the main items on the agenda at the chief executives' committee
(CEC) meeting is an assessment of the decisions recently taken by the
Anil Kumble-led Cricket Committee. The new ODI rules - which were rolled
out last October and include fielding restrictions and the use of two
new balls - have been accepted with skepticism by some countries. India
captain MS Dhoni had stated, before the Champions Trophy, that the rules
were a big challenge. The cricket committee had decided to observe how
teams fared during the Champions Trophy before debating on whether the
new rules needed to be modified or carried forward till the 2015 World
Cup.
Kumble's committee was also concerned about the members ignoring the
ICC's Future Tours Programme and sacrificing Tests to accommodate more
ODIs or T20s. The CEC is expected to discuss how best to maintain a
balance between all three formats. The Cricket Committee had earlier suggested that members play a minimum number of Tests across a four-year period to protect the format.
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