All Done To Disrupt The Corrupt

All those taking part in World Cup 2019 have been briefed by the ICC about the AntiCorruption Code which came into effect in February last year.

- Shayan Acharya

Be on your guard — that’s going to be the buzzword in World Cup 2019. The International Cricket Council (ICC), through its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), will keep a close eye on all the participating nations and the match officials to ensure there is no foul play.

All those taking part have been briefed about the Anti-Corruption Code which came into effect in February last year. The players have been apprised of the threat perception and the ACUwingwill keep a hawk eye on the list of potential corruptors.

“Even though the players and the match officials are aware of the Anti-Corruption code, it is the responsibility of the ICC to make them aware about it. This is a general practice,” said one of the team officials, who has been working in liaison with the ICC anti-corruption unit for the last few years.

During the tournament, the Alex Marshall-led ICC ACU team will work in tandem with the local authorities to ensure there is no threat to security.

In a first, all the 10 participating teams will have a dedicated Anti-Corruption officer.

According to team officials, who have been in the World Cup earlier, the ICC ACU would previously deploy personnel at each venue and teams would deal with a number of officials over the course of the tournament. But this time, one particular official has been earmarked to each team from the warm-up matches to the end of the competition.

The official is put up in the same hotel as the players and he will travel with them for the training sessions and matches.

Interpol watch

The world body has also tied up with Interpol, the organisation which facilitates worldwide police cooperation, ‘to combat corruptors in the game.’