cricket spot-fixing - are the umpires joining in too?

An Indian cable TV channel has released footage of a sting on a group of Asian cricket umpires, all ICC-accredited, ahead of the T20 World Cup. Are umpires jealous of missing out on all the dodgy dealings under the table or is it a set-up?

Six ICC umpires caught on camera willing to fix matches for money, India TV stings reveal

New Delhi, Oct 8: In a major sting operation carried out in July, August and September ahead of the recently concluded ICC World Cup T20 tournament, India TV undercover reporters exposed six ICC umpires, belonging to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, willing to fix matches for money during T20 matches.

The entire sting operation was telecast on Monday prime time by India TV.

The six umpires who were exposed in the sting named "Operation World Cup" are : Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangaldesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka.

The seventh umpire Sharfudoullah Shahid Saikat of Bangladesh refused to give any favour in lieu of money.

Plenty more details on the allegations, plus video footage on that site.

The ICC have been swift in their response, calling on the TV station to share all their information and reinforcing their zero-tolerance policy on all forms of corruption in cricket. They also stated that none of the officials involved had a role in any of the official games in the T20 World Cup (which explains why I hadn't heard of any of them).

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