ICC anti-corruption Director means business

He is articulate, knowledgeable and experienced in the field he has been appointed to. And during a 40-minute interaction with the media in Chennai on Monday, Sir Paul Condon showed that he means business.

The ICC anti-corruption director arrived in Chennai on Sunday. Over the next 24 hours, he had meetings with the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India AC Muthiah and the BCCI's anti corruption commissioner K Madhavan. Sir Paul has come to India to specifically investigate the match fixing allegations made against non Indian players in the CBI report. He has been joined in India by Greg Melick, the special investigator appointed by the Australian Cricket Board, Tim Gresson from New Zealand and Desmond Fernando from Sri Lanka.

"The CBI report and Mr Madhavan's follow up has seen a major step in the fight against corruption in cricket and I congratulate the team on its thoroughness and professionalism," Sir Paul said. "Our task now is to follow up on the allegations and gather evidence in areas over which the CBI has no jurisdiction - namely the non Indian players. We will be meeting with key figures from the BCCI and the CBI. With their help and co operation, we are looking forward to moving our global investigation forward."

Sir Paul was appointed by the ICC in June this year to head cricket's first international anti-corruption operation. His appointment, over the next three years, is a measure of the ICC's determination to take decisive action in the wake of match fixing, betting and corruption allegations circulating in the game. As an initial step towards this aim, Sir Paul and his team have arrived in India.

After meeting with Muthiah and Madhavan on Monday, Sir Paul will proceed to New Delhi where he is to meet senior officials of the Indian government including the Sports Minister and the Law Minister, senior officials of the CBI, including the director, RK Raghavan and senior officers of the New Delhi Police. He has sought full co operation from the Indian authorities for help in investigating various aspects of the match fixing case.

Explaining the objectives of the ICC anti-corruption operation, Sir Paul said it was an independent body which had a full time experienced staff, based in London. It was funded by the ICC but he was obliged to report only to Lord Griffiths, head of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission.

Giving the background, Sir Paul said he was asked by the ICC to take up the job in June. When he did so, he made three conditions. One, that there should be a strong resolve in world cricket to come down heavily on corruption in the game. Two, he wanted total independence in his work and asked that no information should be kept from him. Three, he wanted the resources to take over what would obviously be a long term project. "It is a marathon, not a sprint," he said while describing the investigation.

Detailing the functioning of the ICC anti-corruption unit, Sir Paul said the objective was not to be judge and jury. He said he would not recommend any punishment and he would only gather any information and evidence that would advance the investigation in the case. He would then report to each country's board and to Lord Griffiths.

Asked whether there was any time frame for his investigation, Sir Paul said he would take "as long as it takes." Questioned whether any delay would not cause any frustration among the players, he said "believe me, it is all in the cricketers' interests. If they have done nothing wrong, they have nothing to fear. If they have done wrong, they have a great deal to fear. We would not want to take any hasty decision but hope to arrive at a fair, proper and honourable verdict." He said he was aware that there was a "understandable impatience for quick results."

Sir Paul said he was in touch with all the cricket boards where match fixing charges have been made. He said he expected full co-operation from the relevant authorities not only in India but other countries like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Sir Paul said his brief was to conduct the investigation in such a way that it would be harder in future for players to be drawn into acts of misconduct. He said that the "opportunity and human weakness" were two reasons why cricketers were drawn into corruption. He said he would suggest ways to advice, guide and support the players so that they would stay away from such things. On the subject, Sir Paul recalled that he had a conversation with Hansie Cronje some time back and found him responsive to the idea. "World cricket must learn from past mistakes. It is very important that young men are not drawn into acts of malpractice as a result of stupidity or ignorance. All this will be part of my recommendations because the future must be better than the past."

Asked what would happen if any of the individual boards did not cooperate with the investigation, Sir Paul said he saw no reason to believe that any of the boards will not extend their co-operation.

Asked about the nexus between the players and the underworld, Sir Paul admitted that there were "sinister criminal elements" the world over. There were "seedy deals involving bookies and unlawful money being circulated as part of organised crime and we have to find out who is involved." He said that if there was any criminal angle, then he would liaison with the local police. But he admitted that criminal laws in each country were different.