ICC warns players to beware of fixers despite lockdown

Elite level cricket may have been suspended because of the coronavirus but the sport’s anti-corruption chief has told players to remain aware of approaches by potential fixers.

There has been no major cricket played since last month and there’s no certainty as to when any first-class, franchise or international matches will resume.

But Alex Marshall, the head of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, said it was wrong to assume this would lead to a decline in approaches from criminals who have long targeted cricket because the nature of the game means betting coups can be engineered by ‘fixing’ in-play events and not just the result.

“COVID-19 may have put a temporary stop on the playing of international and domestic cricket around the world but the corrupters are still active,” Marshall told the Guardian.

“As a result, our work with members, players, player associations and agents continues.”

The Indian Premier League (IPL), which was supposed to have started on March 29 and would have been the showpiece of the cricketing calendar now, have been postponed indefinitely. However, a number of franchise owners and some of the players are using their occasion for interactive sessions on Twitter and Instagram A former police chief in England, Marshall added his team were aware reductions in income caused by the current suspension of cricket could make lower-paid players more vulnerable to fixing approaches.

“We are seeing known corrupters use this time, when players are on social media more than ever, to connect with them and try to build a relationship that they can exploit at a later date,” he said.

“We have reached out to our members, players and their wider networks to highlight this issue and ensure they all continue to be aware of the dangers of approaches and do not let their guard down while there is no cricket being played.”

James Pyemont, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s head of integrity, added: “There will always be someone to make something out of a crisis and view it as an opportunity. We have to be confident we can withstand that pressure and we’re confident our players will do the right thing. The time is now to show this is a robust system.”

Meanwhile, the threat of online corrupt approaches does not cause much anxiety to BCCI’s head of Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) Ajit Singh, who says Indian players are well aware of the modus operandi of fixers and are quick to report anything suspect.

Singh said BCCI ACU is in control. “...we have made our players aware about the way people approach you and modus operandi through social media. We have told them ‘look this is how they (potential fixers and bookies) would approach you’,” the veteran IPS officer told PTI in an interaction.

“(They will) try and behave like a fan and then try to meet you through someone who may be your acquaintance,” he added.

“Somehow these elements try and touch base with players. Most of them (India players), whenever it happens, they do report to us that I have got a contact.”

Most of the top players, with millions of followers, have been very active online with Q and A sessions on twitter, interactive chats on instagram and Facebook live.

So is the BCCI’s ACU team tracking the online content?

“Whatever can be tracked online, we do that. But obviously the physical verification part of going out and checking locations is out of question in times of a lockdown,” he spoke about practical problems. But if something comes to our notice, it automatically goes into our database and once lockdown is over, we will verify those if the need arises.”

Singh said the easiest aspect of tracking social media content is that it doesn’t require too much manpower.

“A few men who know their jobs can do it pretty well,” the former DGP of Rajasthan said.

But Singh said that, in his two year stint, all current India players have been honest and upright, very aware about their responsibilities.

“We are not adversaries of players. The players and ACU are one team. It’s the people who are trying to corrupt the games, they are the ones we need to track down.”

He said that both tracking social media and physical verification of corrupt approaches has its own set of challenges.

“Those who were trying to corrupt the players with physical presence and those using fake IDs on social media handles, converge at some point,” he said.

“Either it’s the same person with a fake ID who tries to approach the player or uses someone on his behalf. So there is a pattern of convergence. One has to follow both the lines,” he added.

Agencies