Titillating: Al Jazeera exposes gamers making the most of match-fixing

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has exposed three worn worldwide cricket gamers who were prepared to employ money to repair suits.

The three gamers agreed to play in a match being location up entirely for the motive of match-fixing.

The gamers were secretly filmed by undercover reporters, posing as affluent capacity sponsors, throughout meetings in Qatar and Sri Lanka.

One of many gamers is Hasan Raza, the worn Pakistan star. He made his debut for his nation at the age of actual 14 and is the youngest player ever to play for Pakistan’s nationwide team.

The two other worn internationals who acknowledged they’d enact fixes in the false match were Jeevantha Kulatunga, a worn coach of the Sri Lanka girls’s team, and Dilhara Lokuhettige, who has played eleven instances for his nation.

Al Jazeera’s documentary, Cricket’s Match-Fixers, reveals that the match became deliberate by Robin Morris, a match-fixer from Mumbai and Gaurav Rajkumar, his commerce accomplice from Dubai. 

All the method thru a gathering at a lodge in Doha, an undercover reporter asks Raza, who is sitting on a sofa subsequent to Morris: « Hasan, would you play? »

Raza, who played Twenty20 cricket with Morris for Mumbai Champs, replies: « Yeah, yeah. »

Morris agreed to introduce us to the 2 worn Sri Lanka internationals. We met at a lodge in Colombo where Kulatunga and Lokuhettige acknowledged they’d enact Morris’ fixing work in the proposed match in Dubai.

Requested if they’d both apply Morris’ « script » Kulatunga replies: « Yeah, for sure. 100 computer. That is the opinion.

« We can enact the opinion. That is now not a topic … We are in a position to enact it now with out hesitation.

« Right here’s a well informed topic so it is now not a big thing. Playing cricket for us is like brushing our teeth in the morning.

« However taking part in in step alongside with your opinion is the very best thing on myth of there isn’t one of these thing as a force for us. »

Morris says: « To underperform is much less complex than overperform. »

Kulatunga adds: « Esteem Robin acknowledged, Robin will present us what to enact. We will enact that, easy. »

Plotting match-fixing

Earlier, at a gathering in Mumbai, Morris and Rajkumar explained their plans for the match and showed the undercover reporters a detailed commerce opinion.

Rajkumar, became born and raised in Dubai. He says he played a quantity of cricket there and is conscious of many participants in the cricket councils. « I even like very actual relationships. »

« I know how every match works, what are the costs, from A to Z. All the things, » Rajkumar says in the Al Jazeera documentary. 

The opinion is to location up a are living-televised Twenty20 cricket match, the rapid-paced originate of cricket that has mushroomed correct into a multi-billion greenback industry in current years.

Every step will likely be taken to be obvious the match looks top-notch.

Rajkumar says: « I even like already been to the head of Dubai Cricket Council and he’s very educated to this opinion, okay? »

« He acknowledged when it be are living televised it would to be accredited from the ICC.

« The whole lot will likely be entirely compliant to ICC’s mandate and all the things. »

There will likely be four groups from different contrivance of the United Arab Emirates, every with a mixture of worn internationals from foreign and Emirates-essentially based gamers, Rajkumar says.

The captains will likely be from foreign and most productive a handful of gamers on every team will know the 10-day match is a entrance for match-fixing. 

« Utterly the ones we belief otherwise we won’t ever commence our gob, » says Rajkumar. « If we enact that one particular person will present somebody else and the total thing will get leaked. »

Focusing on gamers

The match-fixers divulge they’ve focused gamers who are in the starting set or cease to the finish of their profession. « They’re on the fringes, » Rajkumar says, pointing at photography of gamers on his notebook computer.

« This guy’s a world. He has played Take a look at cricket – 30 to forty games. Kids will advance too. These who are actual animated into the side. We can work hand in glove with them. »

Morris says every player will likely be paid £1,000 [$1,330] per match but the ones doing his and Rajkumar’s fixing work will receive £35,000-£forty,000 [$46,600-$53,300] per match. 

Morris says: « And that money is like f*****g nothing. They’ll work for us. They’ll create 10 instances that. »

The reporter says: « So, they may possibly perhaps be like puppets? »

Rajkumar replies: « Exactly. Sure, you’ve actual bought it. Total preserve an eye on. »

Rajkumar says at the meeting in Colombo: « We make now not care about the leisure as lengthy as we’re making the money. »

Morris offered this reporter a deal: he acknowledged he would give me files about the fixes in the match in return for 30 % of my winnings from having a bet. « The winnings you give me 30 % … 70-30. »

Chris Eaton, a sports integrity expert and worn Interpol sports corruption investigator, acknowledged: « The tell by Morris that he can location up an whole match for the motive of corruption – for sure it rings appropriate to me. I’ve viewed it in soccer. 

« I’ve viewed whole tournaments being manipulated for the motive of having a bet corruption and having a bet fraud. »

Morris and Rajkumar denied the allegations and acknowledged Al Jazeera had invited them to audition for, and act in, a industrial movie « for public leisure most productive ».

Raza and Lokuhettige did now not reply to requests for observation.

Kulatunga denies any involvement in match-fixing. He says Al Jazeera’s allegations are « mistaken » and had been « deliberately primitive to tarnish my portray and recognition as a cricketer and coach ».

Cricket’s Match-Fixers is available to scrutinize on-line and will likely be considered on Al Jazeera at the following instances:

Monday, Might perhaps perhaps well 28 – 12:00 GMT

Tuesday, Might perhaps perhaps well 29 – 01:00 GMT

Wednesday, Might perhaps perhaps well 30 – 06:00 GMT

Thursday, Might perhaps perhaps well 31 – 12:00 GMT

Friday, June 1 – 20:00 GMT

Saturday, June 2 – 01:00 GMT

Sunday, June 3 – 06:00 GMT