Powerless against corruption

Dubai: Cricket boards do not have the powers required to stamp out corruption in cricket, said Asif Iqbal, the former captain of the Pakistan team and one of the brains behind the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) in Sharjah.

"Boards do not have the powers of a police force or of the magistracy outside of the cricketing world. They do not even have the power to interview anyone if the person refuses to be interviewed. The major effort has to come in co-operation with powers of the state that is the police, anti-corruption set ups, courts etc," Iqbal, co-ordinator of the CBFS that hosted the highest number of one-day matches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.

Game structure

According to Iqbal, cricket is repeatedly falling into the hands of match fixers because of the structure of the game.

"One of the reasons must be because cricket is so structured. There are so many contests going on within the main contest and each can be open to side betting. Also, so many parts of the game [no balls, wide balls, playing a maiden, misfielding, etc] is up to just one person, not the entire side or any combination of players," he said.

Iqbal feels that the International Cricket Council (ICC) on its own cannot rescue the game from corruption. "I don't think that the ICC can by itself eradicate this menace again for the same reason — they do not have the powers. But it is for the ICC to take this up with the governments particularly of India, Pakistan and the UAE so that these governments may move the control and regulate the booking syndicates that operate from these countries."

When asked whether there is a difference in the approach of the cricketers to the game from his playing days, Iqbal said: "I think money has become a much greater consideration than it used to be 46 years ago when I played my first Test match."