THERE is no “no reason to doubt the integrity” of the 2011 World Cup final in which India defeated Sri Lanka, the International Cricket Council has said, ruling out a probe into match-fixing claims.
Former Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage alleged last month that the match — which India won by six wickets in Mumbai — had been fixed by “certain parties”.
The ICC trashed the allegations as the Sri Lankan police on Friday (3) called off an investigation, saying it had found no evidence to back the unsubstantiated claims.
“We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final 2011,” said ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit chief Alex Marshall.
“The ICC Integrity Unit has looked into the recent allegations regarding the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011.
“At this time, we have not been presented with any evidence that supports the claims made or which would merit launching an investigation under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.”
Marshall added that the ICC took such allegations “extremely seriously”, and would review its current position if provided with “any evidence to corroborate the claims”.
“There is no record of any letter regarding this matter sent by the then Sri Lanka sports minister to the ICC,” he noted, rubbishing Aluthgamage’s claims.
“If anyone has any evidence that this match or any other has been subject to match-fixing, we would urge them to get in contact with the ICC Integrity team.”
Three former Sri Lanka captains — Aravinda de Silva (chairman of selectors during the 2011 World Cup), Kumar Sangakkara (captain) and Mahela Jayawardene (centurion in the final) — had recorded their statements before the probe was called off.
