Have set up committee to enquire reports of match-fixing in TNPL: Tamil Nadu Cricket Association

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association on Monday said it has appointed a committee to enquire reports of suspected match-fixing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League T20 tournament.

“Having received information of acts that would constitute, if accurate, offences under the regulatory framework of the TNPL, the TNCA had appointed a committee to enquire into the issue and submit a report and until the Committee has been afforded an opportunity to thoroughly examine the allegations and submit their report,” the TNPL governing council chairman PS Raman said in a press release in Chennai.

“The TNCA is unable to make any statements on the specifics of the allegations concerning teams, players or officials. The board wishes to issue this clarificatory statement in response to the media reports concerning alleged incidents of corruption in the 2019 TNPL.”

Raman said that, since the league’s inception in 2016, TNPL has been covered by a robust anti-corruption programme with stringent regulations that are modelled on ICC and BCCI regulations with a team of anti-corruption officials who maintain vigilance on the teams and officials.

The 2019 tournament in particular was brought under the ambit of the revised BCCI Anti-Corruption Code with BCCI appointed Anti-Corruption Officers deployed for the duration of the tournament in Tamil Nadu, Raman said.

“The TNCA would however like to assure all stakeholders of the game of cricket that it has a zero tolerance policy towards any persons indulging in unethical practices which would subvert the faith of the public in the fairness of the matches,” the TNPL Governing Council chairman said.

“The TNCA affirms its intention to stringently penalise any persons if found guilty to the fullest extent of the law.”

The TNPL had run into troubled waters with a few first-class cricketers and a couple of coaches coming under the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit’s scanner for suspected match-fixing.

BCCI’s ACU chief Ajit Singh, however, ruled out the possibility of any international player being a suspect. The TNPL, owned by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, started in 2016 and features eight franchises.