No meeting scheduled yet with ICC: Al Jazeera on ongoing match-fixing controversy
Mumbai: TV news channel Al Jazeera on Saturday stated that there was no meeting scheduled with the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the ongoing match-fixing controversy.
The channel also said that a meeting with the ICC would be premature at this time.
"With regard to a potential meeting with the ICC, the broadcaster had to take into account ongoing legal considerations, including potential criminal investigations into the spot-fixing allegations in Sri Lanka and India. That being the case, a meeting with the ICC would be premature at this stage,” an Al Jazeera spokesperson said.
It was reported on May 27 that three matches involving the Indian cricket team- India-England Test in Chennai (December 2016), India vs Australia in Ranchi (March 2017) and last year’s India-Sri Lanka Test in Galle were fixed, according to ‘Cricket’s Match-Fixers’,a documentary aired on Al Jazeera recently.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive David Richardson on Friday had urged the Al Jazeera network to provide unedited footage of their sting operation on alleged spot-fixing and pitch-fixing in Test matches involving big teams like India, Australia and England.
The ICC has been demanding unedited footage and GM (ACU) Alex Marshall said that Al Jazeera has not co-operated, something that Richardson reiterated.
"I ask Al Jazeera to release to us all the material they have relating to corruption in cricket. We will conduct a full, thorough and fair investigation and will ensure no stone is left unturned as we examine all allegations of corruption made in the programme," Richardson said in a statement.
"To do so, we need to see all the evidence they state they possess,” he added.
However, Al Jazeera was not willing to share unedited footage as it claims it will reveal their sources. But, Richardson assured the Qatar-based network that their "sources will be protected".
Al Jazeera had aired a documentary where an alleged member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang (better known as 'D Company') Aneel Munnawar was seen talking about fixing pitches and results to an undercover reporter.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Hasan Raza and former Mumbai first-class cricketer Robin Morris were also seen bragging about fixing games.
Three Test matches involving India (vs Sri Lanka in Galle, vs England in Chennai and vs Australia in Ranchi) are under scanner after the sting.
The channel had 'beeped' the names of England and Australian cricketers, citing the ongoing ICC investigation.
However, both Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board have come out strongly in support of their players, rejecting charges of corruption.
