No reason to question the integrity of 2011 World Cup Final: ICC

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Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

The cricketers and selectors of the Sri Lankan cricket team have been cleared of charges of fixing. The charges put forward by former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage saw no evidence. The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit feels that there is no reason to question the integrity of the match.

Kumar Sangakkara, former Sri Lankan captain, was summoned for questioning along with then-teammate Upul Tharanga and chief selector Aravinda De Silva. All three were an integral part of the 2011 World Cup setup. After being questioned for several hours, the investigation was halted.

“From the three statements we’ve got, it was clear to us that the 14 points brought forward by Mahindananda Aluthgamage could not be substantiated. Although it was said that a complaint letter had also been sent to the ICC, the ICC itself has not indicated that. The ICC hasn’t opened up their own investigation either,” Senior Superintendent of Police Jagath Fonseka told Lankadeepa.

No reason to question the integrity of 2011 WC Final: ICC

The former sports minister made the charges of the basis of the four changes which were made it the playing XI from the side that played the Semi-Final. But those changes were justified because of injuries to key players like Angelo Mathews and Muralitharan. Mathews couldn’t play the Final, while Murali was not 100% fit for the clash.

“All three of the statements we took provided reasonable explanations [as to how that game panned out]. They especially gave explanations as to why the team was changed. The other thing is this happened back in 2011.” added Fonseka.

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Aluthgamage also believes that Sanath Jayasuriya’s omission from the 2011 WC squad was suspicious, in spite of the fact that the former opener was a fringe player between 2009 to 2011.

“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 said.

“There is no record of any letter regarding this matter sent by the then Sri Lanka Sports Minister to the ICC and senior ICC staff at the time have confirmed they have no recollection of receiving any such letter which would have led to an investigation,” Marshall said. “We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011. We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and should we receive any evidence to corroborate the claims, we will review our current position.”

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.

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