Interpol to aid in ICC's mission of clean cricket
Cricket has been considered a gentleman's game, ever since its inception. However, with the growing popularity of the game, it has fallen prey to various wrongdoings, including corruption. As a result, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is now taking strict action to contain the issue, and has approached Interpol to aid this mission. Here's how Interpol would help the ICC in cleaning up cricket.
ICC seeks help from Interpol
The ICC has been under immense pressure of late with the growing amount of corruption reports. This has mostly revolved around players being approached by bookies to perform match-fixing. As a result, to contain the issue, it has requested the help of Interpol to fight this crime in cricket. This is ICC's first major step towards resolution of this issue.
What is Interpol?
The Interpol, also known as the International Criminal Police Organization, is an international police organization that aids police forces across different countries to help them fight international crime. It is headquartered at Lyon in France and aids over 194 countries. It was formed in 1923 by the name of International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), before changing its name to Interpol in 1956.
Al Jazeera collected evidence of corruption at cricket's highest level
The issue of rampant match-fixing had come into the limelight last year, when TV news channel Al Jazeera aired a documentary, showing traces of corruption in the sport. The channel said that they had further evidence of corruption at the highest level of cricket. They also said that even they were in talks with Interpol to share the findings.
"ICC and Interpol keen on working together"
ICC Anti Corruption Unit's General Manager, Alex Marshall, said, "The ICC and Interpol are keen on working together and our meetings in Lyon last week were productive. The ICC has an excellent relationship with law enforcement agencies in a number of countries."
Educating players regarding corruption the primary target
Marshall also added that their main focus hereon would be to properly educate players regarding corruption. This would aid them to prevent as well as disrupt corruption in the sport. They would also focus on the inquiries of where the crime has been committed and it is where Interpol would aid the relevant law enforcement organizations to fight the issue.
