ICC’s anti-corruption chief raises doubts over IPL

“The IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah,” a cricket website www. cricketnirvana.com quoted ACSU chairman Lord Paul Condon as stating this in a representation during the just concluded ICC Chief Executive meeting in Dubai.

The ICC banned Sharjah, as a venue for international cricket after match-fixing allegations.

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla however strongly refuted Condon’s assessment.

“This is a totally baseless and utterly uncalled-for allegation. We had an anti-corruption team led by (Niranjan Singh) Virk at every venue. They never found anything suspicious anywhere,” said Shukla.

Meanwhile, in the same meeting, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said the concept of private ownership in cricket might prove detrimental. “We must understand and accept that the introduction of private ownership is likely to see them often at odds with the interests of international cricket,” Sutherland said. “This is a real threat and is likely to provide us with many challenges in the future.”