ICC to join hands with Interpol to fight corruption

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday said it has sought “closer working relations” with the Interpol, an organisation which facilitates worldwide police cooperation, to widen the scope of its fight against corruption in the sport.

The cooperation was discussed during ICC Anti-Corruption Unit General Manger, Alex Marshall’s visit the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France.

“The ICC and Interpol are keen on working together and our meetings in Lyon last week were productive. The ICC has an excellent relationship with law enforcement agencies in a number of countries but working with Interpol means we are connecting with their 194 members,” Marshall said in a media release.

Marshall said the idea is to ensure that players are better educated about the corruptors and Interpol’s vast network would be helpful in this.

“Our focus is on education of players and prevention and disruption of corruptors. Where our enquiries reveal criminal offenses have been committed, we will refer this to the relevant law enforcement organisations and this makes Interpol an important partner for us,” he added.

Interpol’s Criminal Networks unit Assistant Director Jose de Gracia said the organisation will be glad to assist the ICC.

“Sport brings people together, but criminals looking to make large profits can undermine its integrity. Our meetings and cooperation with partners such as the ICC help us shape a collaborative, holistic response,” said de Gracia.

Cricket has been fighting the menace of match-fixing for quite a few years.

Some of the biggest names in the game have been accused and even found guilty of accepting bribes from bookmakers with the list including the likes of late South African captain Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs and former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin.

The most recent case of proven corruption in international games came to light in 2010 when the Pakistani team was accused of spot-fixing during a Test match against England.