Cricket corruption 'not widespread'
Corruption in cricket is not widespread, it has been claimed as three Pakistan stars banned from playing over match-fixing allegations were questioned by police.
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged under the anti-corruption code of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday and provisionally banned from playing in any match.
The three men have insisted they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month.
They have been "provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges", the ICC said. The bans follow newspaper allegations that a middleman accepted £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during the match.
Asked if the case was "the tip of the iceberg", ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We don't believe this is widespread."
And Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, added: "I do not see this as the tip of the iceberg."
Mr Lorgat said: "Upholding the integrity of cricket is fundamental to every single one of us. We have promised to be decisive, we have had a week in which to properly conduct due diligence, and that is the point at which we were (on Thursday night), when we charged three players and provisionally suspended them."
Asked if there was any kind of conspiracy against Pakistani cricket, Mr Lorgat said: "I can assure you that there is absolutely no truth to that suggestion."
