BCCI, ICC to collaborate on IPL anti-corruption

The ICC and the BCCI are close to signing a deal for their respective anti-corruption mechanisms to work in tandem over the next three IPL seasons, starting with 2014. The decision is a result of the corruption scandal that overshadowed IPL 2013 and resulted in arrests of players and team officials.

"Our office is in Dubai, so we have certain facilities which we will make available to the BCCI if they need them. Essentially though, our involvement would be on the anti-corruption side," ICC chief executive Dave Richardson in Dhaka on Friday. "As we speak, I think the contract between the BCCI and the ICC ACSU is under negotiation. So it is a little bit premature to say if our services are actually going to be used but that's probably very likely."

A BCCI official involved in the negotiations confirmed to ESPNcricinfo the ACSU "will be in place for the IPL," but said the association between the two bodies had nothing to do with the IPL's first leg being in the UAE. "The protocols are being worked between the two ACSU departments," he said.

Another BCCI official confirmed the BCCI had been in touch with the ICC before the decision to shift the IPL to the UAE was made. "We were in consultations with the ICC ACSU since the last year's events and we have been close to signing a three-year deal with them," he said.

Less than a year after the BCCI's anti-corruption unit was formed, its weaknesses were exposed during the spot-fixing and betting scandal in IPL 2013. The BCCI unit headed by Ravi Sawani will co-ordinate with the ICC's ACSU chief YP Singh and his team to share inputs for a corruption-free IPL.

Soon after the BCCI had announced its decision to move the first leg of the IPL to the UAE, the ICC had supported the shift. "I think the IPL coming to the UAE will do wonders for cricket in the region, in particular in Dubai," Richardson had said. "And the other point we wanted to make from the media release was that rightly or wrongly, the region sometimes gets accused of having integrity issues. And we wanted to assure everybody in that respect certainly, we are keeping a very close eye on the tournament and making sure that it remains above board."