Need for transparency in ICC and BCCI

The growing increase in the number of cases involving spot-fixing, betting and corruption, that undermines the sanctity of the gentlemen’s game have led to a great concern as to what actually the Anti – Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is doing.

Till this date, not even a single issue have been unearthed by the ACSU which encourages suspicion as well as pity on this toothless watchdog of corruption. It seems to be only due to the efforts of the media or the courts, specially working in this regard that the incidents have come into light in the past years.

The letter by Lalit Modi was written in June, 2013 and since that day, it has been more than 2 years and not even a single announcement or investigation has been made by the ICC. There is no clue as to the steps taken by the ACSU in this regard and whether any robe was made or not and if it was made, then what were the conclusions. While ICC’s investigation unit has not showed transparency, BCCI’s anti-corruption did not look into the matter just because it felt that the matter was not under its jurisdiction. The former BCCI anti corruption chief said that, “Since the cricketers mentioned are international players, it is the ICC that would have to investigate it.”

If we recall all the past events, it’s evident that the ICC’s ACSU has failed to deliver. Whether we talk about the Hansie Cronje case (where the cricketer made the confession himself), the case of Salman Butt and two more Pakistani Players (where the media exposed the scandal), or the IPL controversy involving the Rajasthan Royals’ players (in which the Delhi and Mumbai crime branch traced the links and exposed the network) , each and every time the ACSU remained empty handed. So it now creates an immense need for the ACSU to shift gears and function transparently so that the gentlemen’s game does not lose its sanctity.