2011 World Cup: No reason to doubt integrity of final, says ICC ACU head
Dubai: The ICC on Friday said there is no reason to doubt the integrity of the 2011 World Cup final in which India defeated Sri Lanka, asserting that it has not been provided any evidence that would merit an investigation into the game.
The world body's statement came after Sri Lanka Police's special investigation division on Friday called off a probe into allegations by former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage that the final was fixed by "certain parties" in Sri Lanka. the police said it found evidence supporting Aluthgamage's unsubstantiated claims.
"We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final 2011," ICC's Anti Corruption Unit General Manager Alex Marshall said in a statement. "The ICC Integrity Unit has looked into the recent allegations regarding the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final 2011," Marshall said. "At this time, we have not been presented with any evidence that supports the claims made or which would merit launching an investigation under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code," the ACU head further stated.
The former Sri Lankan Sports Minister's claims that the ICC was sent a letter alleging fixing was also rubbished by Marshall.
"There is no record of any letter regarding this matter sent by the then Sri Lanka Sports Minister to the ICC and senior ICC staff at the time have confirmed they have no recollection of receiving any such letter which would have led to an investigation," Marshall said. He reiterated that ICC takes all allegations of match-fixing seriously.
"We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and should we receive any evidence to corroborate the claims, we will review our current position." "If anyone has any evidence that this match or any other has been subject to match-fixing, we would urge them to get in contact with the ICC Integrity team," Marshall said while concluding the statement.
Three former Sri Lanka captains Aravinda D'Silva (chairman of selectors during the 2011 World Cup), Kumar Sangakkara (captain) and Mahela Jayawardene (centurion in the final) recorded their statements before the probe was called off.
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MP cruise boat tragedy: Search ops expanded to trace four missing passengers
Jabalpur (PTI): Army divers and disaster response teams on Saturday expanded their search at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh to locate a man and three children still missing after the cruise boat tragedy that claimed nine lives two days ago, officials said.
With 28 of the 41 identified passengers onboard the ill-fated cruise boat rescued safely, police are preparing to register an FIR in connection with the accident that occurred at the reservoir in Jabalpur district on Thursday evening, they said.
The search radius has been expanded to 5 km in the backwaters of the Bargi Dam, located downstream of the Narmada River, area sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
Nine people drowned in the incident, while 28 were rescued, and efforts are ongoing to trace the missing persons, he said.
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According to the police, more than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, began the search operation at 5 am on Saturday to trace Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, his son Tamil (5), Vijay Soni (6) and Mayuram (5).
Mishra said that an inquest case has been registered and the post-mortem of nine deceased persons has been completed.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will soon register an FIR," he said.
Investigators have said that CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the ill-fated boat, and the names of 41 persons, who boarded the vessel, have been ascertained so far.
Collector Raghvendra Singh confirmed that a search is underway for four missing persons.
The rescue operation, being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers, was briefly affected around 9 am due to strong winds.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses, including failure to provide life jackets.
The government also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, sank during a sudden storm around 6 pm on Thursday, and the wreckage was retrieved from the dam water on Friday, after the rescuers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside.
Eyewitnesses have said that strong winds made the water choppy, prompting passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the vessel towards the riverbank.
A survivor alleged negligence by the crew and described a last-minute scramble for life jackets.
