DOHA – A startling Al Jazeera report has revealed that four international cricket matches involving Pakistan were allegedly spot-fixed.
The Al Jazeera Investigative Unit’s latest documentary has uncovered evidence of corruption at the highest levels of international cricket, in which a total of 15 matches were ‘spot-fixed’ by players from England, Australia and Pakistan from 2011 to 2012.
The documentary contains recordings of an Indian match-fixer phoning in details of spot-fixes in 15 international matches to a notorious bookmaker, Aneel Munawar, who is unaware that the recordings were leaked. Munawar is based in Mumbai but spends much of his time in Dubai.
Among the players the match-fixer was seen close to is Virat Kohli, now India’s captain and widely regarded as the world’s best cricket player.
Other photographs show Umar Akmal, a Pakistani player, receiving and peering into a bag allegedly given to him by a Munawar associate, though the photographs do not show whether Akmal left with the bag.
Others who appear in the photographs include Andy Bichel, the Australian coach, and senior Indian players including Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
The evidence points to a small group of England players allegedly carrying out spot-fixes in seven matches; Australia players in five matches; Pakistan players in three, with players from other teams carrying out spot-fixes in one match. In some cases, both teams appear to have delivered a fix.
“The match-fixer gave a total of 26 predictions, of which all but one turned out to be accurate. The spot-fixes were all session fixes, predicting what would happen in a specific session of six, eight or 10 overs. Many of the matches involved multiple spot-fixes. In some cases, fixes were delivered by both teams,” the report said.
“Due to the gravity of the accusations and the prospect of criminal investigations, we are not, at present, naming the fixed sessions nor the teams perpetrating the fix because that would identify the batsmen suspected of fixing,” the report added.
The 15 matches in question are:
Australia v England, ODI, January 21, 2011
Australia v Zimbabwe, ODI World Cup, February 21, 2011
England v Netherlands, ODI World Cup, February 22, 2011
Australia v Kenya, ODI World Cup, March 13, 2011
England v South Africa, ODI World Cup, March 6, 2011
England v Bangladesh, ODI World Cup, March 11, 2011
England v India, Test, July 21-25, 2011
South Africa v Australia, Test, November 9-11, 2011
Australia v New Zealand, Test, December 9-12, 2011
England v Pakistan, Test, January 17-19, 2012
England v Pakistan, Test, January 25-28, 2012
England v Pakistan, Test, February 3-6, 2012
Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, T20I World Cup, September 18, 2012
England v Afghanistan, T20I World Cup, September 21, 2012
South Africa v Pakistan, T20I World Cup, September 28, 2012
The files suggest that the suspected fixes were usually carried out by batsmen who agreed to underperform. Some of the world’s most famous players were batting when the fixes allegedly occurred.
The matches include six Tests, six One Day Internationals and three T20 World Cup games.
Spot-fixes affect just a small part of the game and do not determine the overall result.
Lawyers for the England and Australia teams have rejected Al Jazeera’s evidence, while the ICC has not responded to questions about Munawar.
The latest film, Cricket’s Match Fixers: The Munawar Files, is available online and can be viewed on Al Jazeera at the following times:
Sunday, October 21 – 20:00 GMT
Monday, October 22 – 06:00 GMT
Tuesday, October 23 – 01:00 GMT
Wednesday, October 24 – 12:00 GMT
Thursday, October 25 – 06:00 GMT
Friday, October 26 – 01:00 GMT
Saturday, October 27 – 20:00 GMT
