Abstract

In 2001 cricket was in crisis with corruption threatening to tear the fabric of the game apart. Research into the problem revealed that corruption involving match fixing linked to betting on international matches had been in existence for over 20 years. This corruption was permeating all aspects of the game and the international governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) was ill-equipped to deal with the magnitude of the problem. Although gambling is legally prohibited in countries such as Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka an estimated $150 Million is bet on the unlawful market on an average One Day International (ODI) match anywhere in the world. The sheer scale of the problem had been suppressed for years with each country’s domestic cricket board dealing with it in their own way and often concealing events. There was no international structure in place to handle the corruption, no formal penalties to be applied and certainly no culture of integrity. The game was wide open to the corrupters. Verf.-Referat