What Is Match Fixing In Cricket And How ICC Deals With These Situations?

The term cricket match-fixing is a name for various types of corrupt activities which occur in the sport, such as players agreeing to manipulate the score or other aspects of a match. The practice is alleged to occur in some Test matches but has been more prevalent in limited cricket matches.

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Match-fixing can also refer to instances of players deliberately bowling poorly, tampering with the pitch, changing the ball’s condition, or even throwing it. The term is used broadly when it is unclear if the player was simply bad or adjusting the match.

Bribery and match-fixing are not the same thing but are frequently involved in various forms of corruption within cricket. In addition, if any players are found guilty of taking any gifts from a third party to fix the outcome of the cricket match comes in the criminal act according to the rulebook of ICC. Thus any player found doing so can suffer from a cricket ban or heavy fines.

Why Dubai Is Hotspot For Cricket Match-Fixing?

Cricket matching

Match-fixing and Dubai cricket fixer has been a problem in cricket for quite some time now, and it is not just an issue that plagues the subcontinent. Cricket has become big business with billions of dollars changing hands every year, and as such, the temptations to fix matches increases tenfold. So the cricketing world was left reeling at the revelations of spot-fixing in Dubai, leading to three Pakistani players being arrested on charges of corruption and fraud by investigators from Scotland Yard. The three players were found guilty, but their sentences were reduced on appeal. It was a case that rattled the cricket world, but no one was more shaken by its revelations than the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The ICC terminated the PCB’s membership and banned the three players from playing in all international crickets, jointly taking away their national team spots. The move was a reaction to this scandal as to match-fixing in general, but what other measures did ICC take in Dubai? The Cricket ICC was all over the British media in the days that followed the scandal, but it did not send anybody to Dubai to inquire into match-fixing practices in the UAE. It is even more surprising given that Dubai is a venue for many big-money T-20 tournaments, and if indeed match-fixing is rife, then surely Dubai would be high on any investigation list?

The fact that no investigation occurred in Dubai suggests it was known fairly early on, and by now, surely there must be suspicions about other matches held in Dubai. In 2007, the PCB launched an investigation into three Pakistan players and their associates for match-fixing activities. The PCB acted on a tip-off that a Pakistani player was allegedly willing to give away part of his match fee to guarantee victory in an ODI series against South Africa.

After carrying out the investigations, the PCB shared its findings with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The ACSU then investigated the matter but could not find sufficient evidence to ban any players from taking part in international cricket.

How ICC Earlier Take On Fixing Ruined Integrity Of Cricket?

Cricket is a popular game in many countries, but without intense efforts by the world cricket council (ICC) to fight match-fixing, the integrity of cricket may be jeopardized. Match-fixing is when someone or something interferes in a game with the intent to manipulate its outcome in some way. Typically this interference will involve money. For example, Match-fixers will often utilize contacts within or around both teams to buy or sell information to help them fix the game. They will then place bets on sports books for their desired outcome of this fixed game. The match-fixer will therefore gain a financial profit from their efforts in addition to a possible opportunity for other illegal activities.

Match-fixing has been around in cricket for a very long time, but it was only around the mid-2000s that it became as prominent today. At first, the ICC was not concerned with match-fixing issues due to its small scale and because they were only affecting small cricket playing nations with not so much popularity. The ICC were so relaxed about this issue because they thought that, although it impacted the integrity of cricket matches, it did not affect how many people viewed the sport or how much money was coming into it.

The ICC were very wrong about this. Cricket match-fixing had begun to become a large issue around the world. For example, during the 2009 Pakistani Cricket League season, players from the Pakistani team were selling information to bookmakers regarding team strategies and player placement. This caused uproar in international cricket circles because they realized the true extent of match-fixing. In addition to this, cricket betting was becoming more prominent in India and Bangladesh. If it continued to grow at its current rate, these poorer nations would be completely corrupted by cricket betting.

Formation Of ACU

To prevent this corruption of poorer nations in cricket due to match-fixing and gambling practices, the ICC created a new Anti Corruption Unit (ACU). This unit was formed specifically to combat both of these issues. The ACU comprises several anti-corruption officials who are from every cricket playing nation. These officials are elected to different posts to carry out the search and investigations of all the match fixings and corruptions in the cricketing world. They have been able to crack down on several high profile match-fixing cases in recent years, including the Australian Cricket League Match-Fixing Scandal and South African Cricket League Match Fixing Scandal.

Latest Dubai Cricket Fixing Controversy

The Anti-corruption Unit of the ICC was informed about the case of match-fixing in Dubai. There were rumors that some cricketers of the UAE team were trying to fix the T20 world cup qualifiers matches. The officers of ACU began their investigation and found Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed as criminals in the match-fixing case. The ICC then took strict action against them and imposed an eight-year ban on these two UAE players from playing any cricket match for their country. As per the ICC corruption code, both cricketers were charged with the crimes, including failure to disclose a corrupt approach, improperly influencing the match’s outcome, and accepting gifts.

In this controversy, it was found that the two cricketers took $4000 from the bookie to fix the qualifier match of the T20 world cup. Thus, with the increase in match-fixing cases, the ICC keeps a close eye on the major tournaments and tries to prevent such cases.