The SLPL which has prided itself on a successful opening edition of the tournament was quick to refute such allegations and in exclusive remarks to PakPassion.net, sources close to the organizers of the tournament made it clear that charges of impropriety were without foundation and based upon misinformed reporting.

By Amir Husain (9th October 2012)

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) premier T20 tournament, the ICC World Twenty20 2012, came to a fascinating end with a jubilant West Indian team lifting the trophy in Colombo on Sunday against the hosts. Whilst the ICC were, rightfully, satisfied with the outcome of a tournament which saw some scintillating cricket being played in front of local and global audiences, they had little idea of the storm that was waiting to be unleashed by a TV channel in India.

IndiaTV may well have been considered nothing more than a source of sensational news by many, but the allegations they broke during prime time in India on Monday were to shake the very core of the game in the Asian sub-continent as it alleged corruption by players and officials .

Undercover reporters belonging to the channel allegedly found a total of 6 umpires prepared to take part in illegal activities. There were also allegations against several Pakistani cricketers of alleged match fixing and improper conduct. The allegations against the players were reported to have taken place during the recently concluded inaugural editions of the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)

The SLPL which has prided itself on a successful opening edition of the tournament was quick to refute such allegations and in exclusive remarks to PakPassion.net, sources close to the organizers of the tournament made it clear that charges of impropriety were without foundation and based upon misinformed reporting.

The naming of 6 corrupt umpires, 4 of whom were of Bangladeshi and Pakistani by nationality, was rejected by a SLPL spokesman as complete falsehoods as they made it clear that only Sri Lankan umpires were officiating in the tournament.

The spokesman stated "None of the umpires that IndiaTV are claiming to have stung actually officiated at the Sri Lankan Premier League. 4 of the umpires that IndiaTV have spoken with were Bangladeshi and Pakistani and the SLPL only had Sri Lankan umpires officiating in the tournament. The Sri Lankan cricket board selected the umpires for the SLPL and all of the umpires came from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board's elite panel."

As reported widely in the media and also stated by the SLPL spokesman, the tournament was held under the watchful eyes of the ACSU which would negate any possible attempts to entice players or officials into illegal activities. According to the spokesman, “The ICC's ACSU was present throughout the Sri Lankan Premier League and were on full alert even before the tournament started.”

With all these safeguards in place, the specific allegations against former Pakistani All rounder, Azhar Mahmood could only be considered as fanciful according to the SLPL spokesperson. 

"Azhar Mahmood set an 8th wicket world record at the SLPL in an attempt to win the match for his team after his team had collapsed and brought his team to the point of victory from a certain defeat and to allege that a player is match fixing when he plays such an innings is ludicrous."

IndiaTV also made some serious allegations against the CEO of the SLPL, Sandiip Bhammer. In particular, it was stated by the channel that:

“Sandiip Bhammer, the promoter of Sri Lankan Premier League agreed to give sponsorships of all franchises in lieu of US$740,000. His franchise Khandurata Warriors also takes part in SLPL. For the sponsorship of his franchise alone, he demanded US$120,000 from the India TV undercover reporter, and said this money should be paid to his agent in Mumbai.”

With Mr. Bhammer credited with and acknowledged by observers and participants for the successful organization of the inaugural edition of the SLPL, the basis for such allegations looks decidedly shaky and the SLPL spokesman was strong in his rebuttal stating that "Sandiip Bhammer was well within his rights to request $120,000 for sponsorship of the Khandurata Warriors as he was the franchise owner. If the Khandurata Warriors were owned by somebody else and Bhammer was asking for monies then that would be an issue but in this instance he was within his rights. “ 

Whilst the cricketing world absorbs the full implications of some of these allegations, it is yet to be seen how all the accused will react in their defence. With reputations of Pakistani players and officials from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at stake, the reaction from the ICC and various cricket boards affected by theses allegations will be of immense interest in the coming days. 

To date, the ICC have confirmed that they have called upon India TV to turnover any information on this matter and also reiterated their "zero-tolerance" policy toward corruption and stated that none of the umpires mentioned in the report were involved in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. The BCB have also expressed similar sentiments and promised a thorough investigation into the matter.

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