Former ICC President Ehsan Mani has backed the views of former ICC Anti-corruption Unit chief Paul Condon that spot-fixing is rife in international cricket. Describing the sensational claims made by the former ICC’s ACSU chief, Lord Condon as correct, the former president of the ICC said that during his term in the office he was also warned by Mr. Condon time and again. Like the former ACSU chief, Ehsan is also convinced that the birth of the ACSU put a lid on match-fixing. “After 2001, I was satisfied that match-fixing became history, however, Condon used to tell me every time that the spot-fixing was going on,” said Mani said in a television interview. Ehsan Mani also believes that complete eradication of the spot-fixing from the game is highly unlikely.
“Even a single player can do it (spot-fixing), also it’s not easy to detect this malpractice, therefore the complete eradication of this threat is difficult”, maintained Ehsan Mani who became the ICC President in June 2003. Former ICC Anti Corruption Unit chief Lord Paul Condon had said the proliferation of Twenty20 cricket has “allowed some really bad people back into the game”. Condon, who had on Tuesday said that all international teams were involved in corruption, said Wednesday: “Probably the greatest trigger point (in the rise of corruption) was the explosion of T20. The former Metropolitan Police commissioner, who set up the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit in 2000, also believes the vast sums of money on offer in some 20-over competitions to elite players tempted those on the rungs below to earn cash through illegitimate means. “The ‘anything goes’ party atmosphere allowed some really bad people back into the game.
Some of the notorious fixers from early years started to re-emerge on the circuit in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia and the UK. “It almost legitimised the bad guys being back around cricket again, and fixers were even seen in promoters’ boxes and at matches. What up to then had been pretty tight and regulated, suddenly became a free-for-all.” Condon, who believes the ICC must have the “nuclear option” of ultimately excluding national boards who fail to clean up the sport in their country, added that Twenty20 “took away the discipline and rigour (the unit) had been enforcing” and that players were exposed to “lots of people making very, very big sums of money”. He continued: “I think the temptation was to do a little fix here and a little fix there and still win the match – and they were not seeing it as criminal.”
