Cricket: A conspiracy of silence

LONDON - A conspiracy of silence has surrounded corruption in world cricket, the first report of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit said last night.

The report, a response to the match-fixing scandal which erupted last year when former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje admitted taking money from bookmakers, does not name individuals.

But it paints a disturbing picture of corruption and players under-performing to order as betting on cricket mushroomed during the 1980s and 1990s with the proliferation of televised one-day internationals.

In the report the head of the unit, former London metropolitan police chief Sir Paul Condon, said match-fixing was still a problem.

"Corrupt practices and deliberate under-performances have permeated all aspects of the game," he said.

"I also ... believe that corruption continues to happen and the potential for corruption in cricket remains a real threat."

He added that while blatant cases and excesses had been stopped, there remained "a small core of players and others who continue to manipulate the results of matches or occurrences within matches for betting purposes."

Condon said his investigation had been met by "what amounts to a conspiracy of silence."

"Players did not want to be branded an informant and risk being ostracised by team mates," he said.

"Some people were apathetic and thought corruption would always be present.

"The most disturbing aspect of the tolerance of corruption is the fear that some people have expressed to me about their personal safety or the safety of their families."

He had spoken to people who had been threatened, and others who had alleged a murder and a kidnapping linked to cricket corruption.

"In order to respond to these anxieties I have interviewed some people away from their normal lifestyles.

"We have reasonable grounds for new investigations against a number of individuals.

"These allegations are not yet in the public domain."

Condon said he had been told that corruption began in the 1970s when county and club games in England and other countries were allegedly fixed by teams to secure points and league positions, but did not involve money.

It then evolved into a more insidious form involving money and gambling.

He said he had interviewed people within the sport to try to establish why corruption had flourished.

They told him that cricketers were paid less than performers in such sports as soccer, golf, tennis and Formula One, and were therefore more vulnerable to approaches.

"Some administrators either turn a blind eye or are themselves involved in malpractice," he was told.

The proliferation of meaningless one-day games also had a role.

The report also includes allegations of drug use in the game and although the claim has been dismissed because of lack of evidence, Condon warned the ICC to act promptly to monitor it.

He said he had received allegations about baggage and equipment on tours being used to transport drugs.

"In many ways the Indian betting industry has been the engineroom which has powered and driven cricket corruption," Condon said.

He blamed administrators, past and present, for putting the game in strife and said not enough was being done to clean it up.

Condon said resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan in 1978 was a "key stimulant" in raising interest in unlawful betting on cricket.

While the report said there was not sufficient evidence to link organised crime with match-fixing, it was alleged " ... a major criminal had access to an individual team and wielded undue influence over team selection and performance."

The report also blames the widespread availability of mobile phones for betting on cricket.

The anti-corruption unit was set up last year after Cronje admitted taking money from bookmakers for providing information.

Cronje and two other former international captains, India's Mohammad Azharuddin and Pakistan's Salim Malik, were subsequently banned for life.

Seven former international captains were named in an Indian Central Bureau of Investigation report on November 1 last year.

The report said Cronje, Azharuddin, Brian Lara, of the West Indies, Alec Stewart, of England, and Arjuna Ranatunga, of Sri Lanka, had been offered or paid money by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta.

Malik and New Zealand's Martin Crowe were also mentioned in the report.

Crowe's involvement centred on his accepting $US3000 ($7156) from Gupta in 1991.

Crowe admitted receiving the money, but said he did so on the understanding he was to write a series of articles for use in India.

Once he learned Gupta was not a journalist, he terminated his contact with the bookmaker.

Gupta had told the Central Bureau of Investigation he had been introduced to Crowe by Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda de Silva.

De Silva was spoken to about it this month, but the ICC report makes no mention of the outcome of that meeting.

The president of the ICC, Malcolm Gray, conceded that the sport's administrators had failed to act fast enough.

"The ICC and all the national boards ... were slow to react," Gray said.

"They didn't realise how deep and wide this problem was.

"They didn't act strongly enough or robustly enough or quickly enough."

- REUTERS

Sir Paul Condon's report