On the day Sri Lankan police ended its investigation of the much-talked about 2011 World Cup final between the Indian team and the island nation, International Cricket Council said on Friday that claims of the match being fixed are unfounded.
The MS Dhoni-led Indian side had won the tournament by beating Sri Lanka in the final of the 2011 World Cup to end a 28-year wait.
On Friday, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit General Manager Alex Marshall said there is no evidence to back recent allegations of corruption with regards to that match at Wankhede Stadium.
“The ICC Integrity Unit has looked into the recent allegations regarding the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011. At this time, we have not been presented with any evidence that supports the claims made or which would merit launching an investigation under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code,” Marshall said in a statement.
Sri Lankan police earlier said there was no evidence to support claims of match-fixing after recording statements of stalwarts Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had alleged that the final, which India won, was fixed by “certain parties” leading to an inquiry by the Special Investigation Division of the Police.
The minister’s claim that the ICC was sent a letter alleging fixing was also rubbished by Marshall.
“There is no record of any letter regarding this matter sent by the then Sri Lanka Sports Minister to the ICC and senior ICC staff at the time have confirmed they have no recollection of receiving any such letter which would have led to an investigation. We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011.”
“We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and should we receive any evidence to corroborate the claims, we will review our current position,” Marshall added.
“If anyone has any evidence that this match or any other has been subject to match-fixing, we would urge them to get in contact with the ICC Integrity team.”
Jagath Fonseka, police superintendent in charge of the special investigation unit on prevention of offenses relating to sports, told reporters on Friday that the 14-point allegations levelled by Aluthgamage, could not be corroborated.
“We see no reason why players must be further questioned”, Fonseka added.
Fonseka’s investigation unit interviewed Aravinda de Silva – the then chairman of selectors –Sangakkara, the captain at the final, Upul Tharanga, one of the openers and Mahela Jayawardene.
De Silva and Sangakkara, the sitting president of the MCC, were quizzed for over six and 10 hours respectively by the police, which led to protests outside SLC office on Thursday.
(With PTI inputs)