On Sunday, Al Jazeera released a new documentary on the spot-fixing scandal which directly claims that Aneel Munawar, who is a member of a crime syndicate known as D-company has been accused of being a match-fixer, is said to have successfully carried out spot-fixing 26 times in 15 international games matches in the period between 2011-12 which includes six Tests, six One Day Internationals and three games at the World T20.
The documentary which is called ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers: The Munawar Files’ has been released after a previous documentary that was released by the same channel in May going by the name ‘Cricket’s Match-Fixers’. It states that “the evidence, from 2011 and 2012, 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 the documentary, it has also been said that the Lord’s Test between India and England is also under scrutiny along with the Test between South Africa and Australia, staged in Cape Town in 2011. Apart from those Tests, there are five ODIs and three games in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka. However, the documentary claims that out of the 15 games England, Australia and Pakistan were involved in almost 14 games, while any other team’s involvement was only in one game.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC), who had earlier sent out a public appeal to help identify Munawar has once again announced that they are willing to uphold the integrity of the game and appealed to Al Jazeera to share evidence with them.
In a statement released by the general manager of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, Alex Marshall, he said, “The ICC is committed to working to uphold integrity in cricket. As you would expect we will again take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make seriously and will investigate fully. However, I must refute the assertion that cricket does not take the issue of corruption seriously, we have more resources than ever before working to rid our sport of corruption.”
Statement from Alex Marshall, General Manager – ICC Anti-Corruption Unit pic.twitter.com/YApoB294Dq
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) October 21, 2018
He further added, “The investigation into these allegations has already commenced and will run alongside a number of other live unrelated investigations. When considering the claims, we will work with professional independent betting analysts.”
Shockingly, Al Jazeera’s documentary further stated that ICC has been knowing Munawar for eight years but only issued an appeal after the media house informed them of the documentary. However, the ICC doesn’t agree with those claims and they further stated that the global body has been asking for the footage of the sting operation since it was aired for the first time, but they are yet have not bee cooperated by the channel.
Marshall’s statement further read: “As with the first programme we have and will continue to ask for the cooperation of the broadcaster. We have made repeated efforts to engage with the broadcaster as it can play such a crucial part in the full and thorough investigation it has called for. We do welcome the commitment from the broadcaster to share the files with Interpol and, I hope, other law enforcement agencies who can act upon the information and support us in ridding the sport of these criminals.”
In the documentary, it has also been seen that the alleged the fixer had made an anonymous phone call to an unnamed England player before the start of the 2011 World Cup. In which Munawar said, “Congratulations for the Ashes. The last payment is ready for going into the account. You will be credited in a week,” and he received a reply from the player as “lovely”.
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The England and Wales Cricket Board called the documentary “poorly prepared” but insisted it will take the accusations very seriously and continue to work with ICC’s Anti-corruption unit.
After listening to the documentary, one of the spokespersons of the ECB said, “ECB takes its responsibilities on anti-corruption and preserving the integrity of cricket very seriously. Whilst the limited information we have been given by Al Jazeera is poorly prepared and lacks clarity and corroboration it has been properly assessed. Analysis of this by the ECB Integrity Team has cast no doubt on the integrity or behavior of any England player, current or former.”
Here is the video of the documentary:
He further added, “The materials we have been given have been referred to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption unit and we will continue to work with them, as is the correct procedure for protecting the game. We are also working closely with the PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association) and keeping them informed.”
The documentary also shows photographs of Munawar and his associates hovering around players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but the channel made it clear that there is no suggestion that these players were involved in any wrongdoing.
