Top international cricketers involved in spot-fixing, claims Al Jazeera investigation
MUMBAI: Aneel Munawar, an alleged match-fixer on ICC's radar, is said to have been involved in 26 spot-fixing instances in six Tests, six ODIs and three World T20 matches between 2011-12, according to Al Jazeera's investigative documentary released on Sunday (October 21). Titled 'Cricket's Match Fixers: The Munawar Files', the documentary claims fixed passages of play in seven matches by England players, five matches by Australia players, three matches by Pakistan players, and in one match by players from another country.
The high-profile matches under the scanner this time include the 2011 Lord's Test between England and India and the 2011 Cape Town Test between South Africa and Australia, along with five matches in the 2011 World Cup and three in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka. The documentary also pointed out at successful spot-fixing in each of the three England-Pakistan Tests in 2012 in the UAE.
The documentary pivots around the pictures and recordings - "The Munawar Files' that Al Jazeera's investigative unit claims to have obtained. The files include recordings of calls made by Munawar to Dinesh Khambat, a subordinate to Dinesh Kalgi who was a serial bookmaker based out of Ahmedabad before he died in 2014. Details of at least three fixes during the 2012 World T20 held in Sri Lanka were provided by Munawar to Kalgi, which included the England-Afghanistan match.
The documentary also revealed a phone call made by Munawar to an unnamed England player just before the start of the 2011 World Cup. He is heard telling the player: "Congratulations for the Ashes. The last payment is ready for going in the account. You will be credited in a week." The player is heard saying "lovely" in reply, although the audio was distorted to conceal the identity of the player. Al Jazeera claims to have approached the said player, who claimed that the conversation didn't take place and that the call recording was "fabricated".
The documentary also revealed pictures of Umar Akmal meeting a 'D-Company' associate in the hotel lobby on the night of the fix in the third Pakistan-England Test in Dubai. Akmal and the 'D-Company' associate are then photographed with a second man in the hotel lobby, with whom Akmal shakes hands and is seen inspecting a bag. The photographs, however, do not show Akmal leaving the lobby with the bag.
Akmal, in June this year, was summoned by Pakistan Cricket Board's anti-corruption unit after he made claims that he was approached to fix matches in the Hong Kong Super Sixes, Pakistan's series against South Africa in the UAE, and the 2015 World Cup. Akmal had said that he was first approached during his second stint in Hong Kong, and was offered as much as USD 200,000 to play two dot balls. He also reported being approached for Pakistan's group game against India in the 2015 World Cup in one of many approaches before matches against India.
The documentary claims that Munawar successfully predicted 25 out of 26 outcomes; in the one he couldn't, Munawar missed the mark by a solitary run.
Munawar, who had been identified as a prominent match-fixer in Al Jazeera's first documentary 'Cricket's Match-Fixers' that aired in May this year, is supposedly a member of the "D-Company" controlled by Dawood Ibrahim.
The ICC, towards the end of August 2018, had launched an appeal to identify Munawar while claiming that it had identified every other person in the first documentary and spoken to several of them in connection to match-fixing. However, Al Jazeera dismissed that by stating the ICC had known about Munawar for eight years and "yet, the ICC issued a global appeal to find Munawar only after Al Jazeera informed them it was preparing this documentary."
Reacting to the documentary, Alex Marshall, general manager of ICC's ACU, said: "As you would expect we'll again take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make seriously and will investigate fully. However, I must refute the assertion that cricket does not take the issue of corruption seriously. We have more resources than ever before working to rid out sport of corruption.
"The investigation into these allegations has already commenced and will run alongside a number of other live unrelated investigations. Considering the claims, we will work with professional independent betting analysts."
As it had done earlier, the ICC has again requested the broadcaster to cooperate with the cricket governing body's investigation into corruption in the sport while appreciating Al Jazeera's intention to share a copy of its investigation with Interpol.
Interestingly, Marshall, during the recent Asia Cup in Dubai, had hinted, without taking the name of the channel, that ICC was disappointed with Al Jazeera as it didn't share the raw footage of its sting operations. "The videos which are made public are generally edited. We ask for the raw files," Marshall had told reporters.
courtesy : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Ban is not shocking, if I join BJP my ban will be lifted: Bajrang on NADA suspension
New Delhi (PTI): Suspended for four years due to his "refusal" to provide sample for dope test, Olympic medallist Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia on Wednesday said it was a vindictive move by the government which would quash the ban if he joins the BJP.
NADA said Bajrang violated the rules by refusing to give sample during selection trials for the national team on March 10.
The anti-doping body had first suspended the Tokyo Games bronze medallist wrestler on April 23 for the offence following which, the sport's world governing body UWW had also slapped him with a suspension.
"It is not shocking because this issue about trial has been going on for last one year. I have said in the past too that I have not refused to give sample to NADA. When they visited my home to conduct the dope test, they came with an expiry kit (in December, 2023). I have also posted this on social media," Barjrang told reporters.
Punia, along with fellow wrestler and Olympian Vinesh Phogat, have joined the Congress Party earlier this year.
Bajrang added in his defence, "You can't give expiry kit to any player and as far as I am concerned, my team was there, so they saw it. They came carrying expiry kits dated 2020, 2021, 2022.
"I gave my urine sample but then my team checked the kit and found out that it was expired. So we made a video of the kit and we mailed NADA, called them to inform about the mistake. But they did not accept their mistake."
The wrestler alleged that the government is looking to get back at them for their involvement in the long-drawn sit-in protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP politician.
"I also feel that because of our protest in support of the women wrestlers, they are trying to exact revenge because all the agencies are fall under the purview of the government.
"I have been competing for the last 10-12 years and I have given sample during all tournaments, during the India camps. But the government's motive is to break us, make us bow down to them. If I join the BJP then I think all my bans will be lifted," Bajrang claimed.
The suspension means that Bajrang will not be able to return to competitive wrestling or apply for a coaching job abroad, if he aspires to, till April 22, 2028.
