The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched an urgent inquiry yesterday into how Brendon McCullum’s testimony about a match-fixing investigation was leaked, while clearing the New Zealand captain of any involvement in corruption.
ICC chief executive David Richardson said that the leaking of highly confidential information undermined confidence in the organization’s anti-corruption drive, expressing “deep regret” that McCullum’s testimony became public.
“We recognize that this is a deeply concerning development for the stakeholders in the fight against corruption in the sport of cricket and we wish to emphasize that Brendon McCullum is not under investigation in this matter,” he said. “We are taking all steps available to us to urgently investigate how certain information in the form of statements has come to find its way into the media.”
Richardson said he wanted to “correct any misperception that he [McCullum] is somehow under suspicion.”
New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White reacted angrily to the leak this week, demanding answers from the council about how evidence to its investigative unit came to be splashed over newspapers worldwide.
In the testimony, as reported by Britain’s Daily Mail, McCullum allegedly said that a high-profile cricketer dubbed “Player X” approached him in 2008 and offered him up to £107,000 (US$180,000) a match to underperform.
McCullum said he rejected the offer from the player, whom he described as “a hero who became a friend.”
Former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent, whose testimony to the council’s probe was also leaked, has reportedly admitted match-fixing for Player X, who he described as “a world-famous international.”
Former New Zealand great Chris Cairns has acknowledged that his name has been linked to Player X, but denied any involvement with corruption or match-fixing.
Richardson did not give a time-frame for the completion of the leak inquiry or the wider investigation into match-fixing, which reportedly involves games in at least five countries from 2008 to 2012.
He defended the council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), which has failed to secure a major conviction in its own right since it was founded in 2000, with all successful match-fixing prosecutions stemming either from media stings or local police investigations.
“We are confident that the ACSU’s activities over the years have played an enormous role in limiting the opportunities for corrupt participants to involve themselves in untoward activity,” he said.
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