The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced a six-month suspension on Maharashtra Cricket Association’s pitch curator Pandurang Salgaoncar following investigations over alleged charges of corruption. The controversy arose when Salgaonkar was exposed by a sting operation by television channel India Today in October 2017 ahead of a One Day International against New Zealand.
Salgaoncar was charged with a failure to report an approach but no evidence was found of him actually having been engaged in corruption and therefore no charges were laid against him on that basis, the ICC confirmed.
The sting operation reportedly showed Salgaoncar interacting with reporters posing as bookies and agreeing to prepare the pitch to suit two particular bowlers. The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s acting president CK Khanna had confirmed then that Salgaoncar was suspended and banned from entering the stadium until an investigation into the matter is completed.
Explaining the decision, ICC General Manager – Anti-Corruption Alex Marshall said: “We have carried out an extensive investigation based on the allegations made by India Today and the material they shared with us.
“I am satisfied that Mr. Salgaoncar has no case to answer on the broad allegations of corruption made by India Today. However, as he is bound by the ICC Anti-Corruption Code as a participant of the sport, he has been charged with breaching section 2.4.4 of the Code for his failure to report an approach to engage in corrupt conduct.
“Mr Salgaoncar has accepted that he has committed the offence and has received a six-month suspension, which has been backdated to 25 October 2017, being the date he was internally suspended by MCA, and he will therefore be free to resume his duties on 24 April 2018.”
The full verdict is available here.