The International Cricket Council (ICC) is investigating up to six allegations of corruption in Abu Dhabi T10 competition, the Daily Mail reports. Players such as Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan and Andre Russell had taken part in the event.
Among the Indian names, S Sreesanth, Suresh Raina and Stuart Binny were also a part of the league.
According to the report, the world governing body’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) received more than a dozen allegations regarding corrupt activity at the two-week tournament.
Around £15million were staked using exchanges on a tournament where bookmakers were highly visible and all the teams in the league were sponsored by betting companies. The report claims that only few spectators attended the league but huge bets were placed on the matches.
The report says that around $18MN was wagered during the tournament. Each match saw betting in the range of $1MN which according to ICC estimates is very large for such a small event.
The ICC also received reports of questionable activity around the teams. The franchise owners were dictating bowling and batting orders in advance without considering the conditions. Star cricketers were dropped at short notice and batters giving their wickets away with inexplicable shots.
In one match, the son of Darren Herft, owner of the Chennai Braves franchise, opened the batting alongside England batsman Dan Lawrence despite never having played a first-class game.
One owner had even tried to terminate the contract of an England international the day before he was scheduled to join up with his franchise. The reason for that was unknown, claimed the report. At least one Indian player had his wages paid by the league rather than his franchise.
A SportsMail correspondent stated that he saw the same faces in the stands using multiple phones and then later in players’ hotels.
“Scattered across the stands are men, predominantly from Asia, using multiple phones, earphones plugged in, relaying every bit of the action down the line. I meet men from Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Dhaka, and while some are too busy or simply unwilling to speak, a few speak up, bragging about how easy it is to make money,” the correspondent stated in the report.
“Some of these men are ‘pitch-siding’, where live events are communicated to someone who can influence the betting market in real time before the TV coverage catches up. But others are there to ensure orders are followed. Sometimes these people know which players are being controlled and they know the script. They are looking out for pre-arranged signs — such as a batsman removing his helmet or a glove — to signal that the fix is on. In numerous off-the-record conversations, I hear about players being approached in hotels and bars,” he added.