New Delhi: A television sting operation on Monday claimed to have uncovered six international umpires allegedly willing to fix matches for money in the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup and Sri Lanka Premier League matches.
The channel India TV showed video clips purportedly taken by their undercover reporters in which the umpires were shown to be allegedly willing to give certain decisions in exchange for money.
The six umpires, who are purportedly shown in the TV sting willing to fix matches, are Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangladesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka.
Ghauri and Shah have rubbished the allegations while Bangladesh Cricket Board President Mustafa Kamal said it will investigate the matter after getting the details.
The ICC said the Council have been made aware of the allegations made by the TV channel and asked them to turn over any information which can assist the ICC’s inves-tigations into this matter.
The ICC also said that none of the umpires named were involved in any of the official games of the World Twenty20.
The fact that the umpires were willing to do a “criminal” thing is unfair to cricket, he said.
Ghauri, who is an ICC International Panel umpire, has rubbished the allegations against him and claimed he has never officiated outside Pakistan.
Bangladesh umpire Nadir Shah has also strongly refuted the allegations against him.
The BCB’s Kamal said it will investigate the matter after getting the details.
“I also came to know about it from the media. So, I am not in a position to make any comment. But if it (the allegations) are true. we will definitely investigate into it. But we have to wait until and unless we have the full details,” Kamal said.
Shah on his part said “I never fixed any match.”
“Absolutely rubbish. If I am going to fix match, I will be caught some day by the ICC. They had posed as sponsors and had approached me. But I did not agree to them. No umpire fixes matches,” he said.
The channel showed visuals of its undercover reporters with the umpires.
According to the channel, Shah offered to give decisions in any format of the game. He has officiated in 40-plus ODIs, six Test matches as TV umpire and three Tests as reserve umpire.
Ghauri, according to the channel, agreed to help India in all ways. He has stood in 43 ODIs, 14 Tests and four T20 matches.
According to the channel, Gallage, a Sri Lankan umpire who was the fourth official at the India-Pakistan warm-up match on September 17, agreed to give information on the playing elevens of both teams for Rs 50,000. (PTI)