Cape Town - An “intermediary” has been charged by Cricket South Africa (CSA) for “contriving to fix or improperly influence aspects” of the recently-completed RamSlam T20 Challenge tournament.
CSA said in a statement on Tuesday that its anti-corruption and security unit has been carrying out an ongoing investigation and charged a perpetrator, who operated as an intermediary, under its anti-corruption code.
The intermediary was also charged with failing or refusing, with “compelling justification” to co-operate with an investigation by Cricket South Africa’s designated anti-corruption official.
The Titans won the T20 Challenge on Saturday when they beat the Dolphins by seven wickets in Centurion.
Early in November, CSA sent out a warning to all cricket players and officials that an international syndicate was attempting to corrupt domestic cricket in South Africa, and that CSA were carrying out an investigation into the matter.
CSA said on Tuesday that the intermediary has been provisionally suspended and is now required to respond to the charges via the organisation’s anti-corruption and security unit.
The provisional suspension prevents the intermediary from being involved in any match, function or event authorised by CSA, the International Cricket Council, a national cricket federation or by any member of a federation.
CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: “Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance, and we are confident that we have the necessary structures in place to effectively deal with any corrupt activity.
“We will relentlessly pursue under our code and the law of the land any persons we believe to be involved in corrupting the game and, with assistance from the police, we will also seek criminal prosecution.”
Match-fixing and corruption in cricket has had a long history, with the most infamous South African case being that of former captain, the late Hansie Cronjé, who was banned for life in 2000 following the King Commission. Cronjé died in a plane crash in 2002, aged 32.
The most recent high-profile match-fixing episode saw Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir banned for between five and 10 years for various incidents during a 2010 tour of England.
@IndyCapeSport