No evidence against three cricketers accused by Lalit Modi of taking bribes: ICC sources

The ICC had found no evidence against the three international cricketers who have been accused of accepting bribes by former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi and had closed the matter after a thorough investigation. The game’s governing body had yesterday hinted that it had found no evidence against the three cricketers, when in a statement it said, “…The ACSU handled that information in accordance with its standard operating procedures, which included sharing it with the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit.” [caption id=“attachment_2317988” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  It has been alleged that Raina is one of the players named in the email to ICC from Lalit Modi. PTI[/caption] Reliable sources said had there been any wrongdoing, the world body ’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit would have opened an inquiry. “If the ACSU had found any evidence against the three players, then it would have charged them for breaching the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code. If this has not happened in two years and the players are still playing international and domestic cricket, this clearly means that there is no evidence that warrants a charge,” the sources told PTI. “The matter can be reopened as and when new supporting evidence is provided but, but as of now, there is no charge against the cricketers. It is now up to the three cricketers to file damages against Lalit Modi, who has questioned their integrity by shooting an email to the International Cricket Council, demanding investigation.” Sources said the cricketers need to decide their next course of action after damage was caused to their reputations due to Modi’s allegations. “This is an extremely serious allegation and the cricketers need to act to get their names cleared once and for ever,” sources said. The sources further said the ICC had investigated the matter in 2013 because the email didn’t refer the allegations to IPL or international cricket. “Because the email didn’t specify the level of cricket, the ICC took it as international cricket and investigated the matter as diligently as it does with any other probe,” sources said. “The four pillars of the ICC ACSU are: education, prevention, investigation and prosecution. After the education bit, the ICC ACSU updated the BCCI that it had investigated its cricketers. This has has confirmed in by the ICC its response. “The reality of the situation is the email had raised ‘concerns’. Unfortunately, on the basis of ‘concerns’ or ‘suspicions’, charges cannot be laid. We are dealing with cricketers of international repute and I am sure that ICC will want to have rock-solid evidence before taking the extreme route.” Earlier, the BCCI gave a clean chit to the three cricketers. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said “there is nothing in it” when asked about the ICC acknowledging a letter from Modi in June 2013, claiming that two cricketers from India and a West Indian were paid in cash and kind to the tune of Rs 20 crore each. “Lalit Modi had written a letter to ICC, so they informed BCCI about the letter. The three players are international players and fall under the international jurisdiction. There is no information on these players from ICC so far, so it is in a way a clean chit for them to play,” said Thakur here today. PTI