Everybody is susceptible: ICC CEO on corruption

Cricket fraternity was once again left shaken when an Indian TV channel did a sting operation on umpires who were allegedly willing to give dubious decisions for money.

"It is everybody now unfortunately: everybody is susceptible, the curators, the groundsmen," Richardson, who took over as ICC CEO in July this year, said at the unveiling of the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England next year.

"At international level, whether it is a bilateral series or whether it is an ICC event, the attention to that aspect of the world game is at the same level every time we walk out onto the field so to speak.

"So it won't be any less, it won't be any more than normal. But the bottom line is, it is a bit of a war we are fighting and our anti-corruption unit has their work cut out to make sure the players are kept away from temptation and that we end up with a corruption-free event."

Six umpires -- Nadir Shah (Bangladesh), Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui (Pakistan), and Sagara Gallage, Maurice Winston Zilwa and Gamini Dissanayake (Sri Lanka) -- were caught on tape willing to accept money for giving favourable decisions.

All six of them denied the allegations and called the sting a fake but were still suspended by the ICC pending an investigation.

Asked how the ICC plans to tackle corruption, Richardson said, "The plan of attack is obviously we have got an anti-corruption unit (ACSU) whose resources have been increased in recent times."

Richardson said with heightened awareness among international players about the perils of corruption, the bookmakers were now targetting domestic circuit. More