Players afraid to report approaches by bookies: May

Players afraid to report approaches by bookies to ICC, reveals FICA chief

Players afraid to report approaches by bookies: May

Players afraid to report approaches by bookies to ICC, reveals FICA chief

Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association, has revealed that players live in fear after reporting approaches by bookies, especially in tournaments like the Indian Premier League, to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

FICA chief Tim May

May sent a report to Australian daily Sydney Morning Herald on how cricket is dealing with claims of corruption in the fallout of the ongoing spot-fixing trial in London's Southwark Crown Court. May revealed that cricket's underworld has found players fear for their safety after reporting corrupt approaches and do not trust the ICC to deal with the issue.

Australia and India were dragged into the spot-fixing controversy when sports agent Mazhar Majeed, on trial in London for fixing matches with Pakistani cricketers, claimed on the tape that Australian players would fix "brackets'", one of five particular periods during a one-day international that bookies accept bets on.

IPL, biggest worry
While Australian cricketers have been cleared, May said that players were worried with the inability of ICC's security unit to deal with corruption.u00a0 "'Players need a point of trust to report approaches/suspicions,"' May wrote. "Some international players are expressing that they don't have this point of trust, especially in tournaments such as the Indian Premier League.

"'Players will be more inclined to report approaches etc if there is greater anonymity around the reporting processu00a0... some players won't report breaches they observe for either fear of their safety or simply because they just don't want to get involved."