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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Israel strikes Gaza hospital, forcing evacuation as strikes intensify
Deir Al-Balah (Gaza), Apr 13 (AP): Israel struck a hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday, forcing patients to evacuate as attacks intensified across the Strip.
The pre-dawn strike hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, after Israel issued an evacuation warning, according to Gaza's ministry of health. One patient died during the evacuation because medical staff were unable to provide urgent care, it said.
The hospital, run by the Diocese of Jerusalem, was attacked on Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
Hours later, a separate strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killed at least seven people, according to staff at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel said it struck a command and control centre used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. It said prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm, including issuing warnings, and using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
The strikes came hours after Israel's defense minister said that military activity would rapidly expand across Gaza and that people would have to evacuate from “fighting zones.” Israel also announced Saturday the completion of the Morag corridor, cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, with the military saying it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory.
Israeli authorities have vowed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.
Director of Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr. Fadel Naim, said they were warned of the attack before it was struck. In a post on X, he wrote that the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, impacting more than 100 patients and dozens of medical staff.
The health ministry said the strike destroyed the ward for outpatients and laboratories and damaged the emergency ward.
Medical facilities often come under fire in wars, but combatants usually depict such incidents as accidental or exceptional, since hospitals enjoy special protection under international law. In its 18-month campaign in Gaza, Israel has stood out by carrying out an open campaign on hospitals, besieging and raiding them, some several times, as well as hitting multiple others in strikes while accusing Hamas of using them as cover for its fighters.
Last month Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis city, the largest in southern Gaza, killing two people and wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory's health ministry said. The facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel ended the ceasefire with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
The war started after Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.
More than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have so far been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive, according to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.
