France Cricket Organised Fake Matches: The International Cricket Council confirms to look into allegations of France Cricket organising fake matches. Tracy Rodriguez who had been elected to the board in 2021 left earlier this year, first uncovered the ‘fake matches’.
France Cricket Organised Fake Matches
Former France international cricketer Tracy Rodriguez, who has long tried to champion women’s cricket in the country, had always doubted that so many women’s matches were taking place, notably in the women’s second-division tournament, which comprises nine teams, all but one based within the Paris region.
She told France24 that she had doubts about the women’s games being played and decided to check. She went to the grounds where they were supposed to be held and found no cricketers.
“Two or three times I [went] there, people were having picnics and kids cycling around at the time of the game. Then the day after I would see the results of the games online,” Rodriguez told France 24.
France24 followed up and upon a similar inspection, found the same – no match being played – even on subsequent days.
“Instead of the scheduled women’s match, the men’s under-19 semi-final – which should have ended far earlier – was taking place. Once the game ended, around 3:30 pm, both teams packed up and left.
The women’s second-division game apparently did not follow. Three days later, France Cricket rubber-stamped the match as having taken place and posted the results on their website,” France 24 said in a detailed report under the sub-head of Phantom matches. The report further said that the club’s fake scoresheets.
“Most clubs cheat, they pretend to have a women’s team. They pay for licences and then they fake score sheets online. We have refused to fake matches and that means that even if we qualify we’re likely to never be able to get a promotion.” the coach of a club has been quoted in the report as saying.
ICC announced that they are taking the allegations seriously and will open an investigation, though ACU’s (Anti-Corruption Unit) involvement in the matter has not been finalised.
The ICC stated, “We’re looking into it,” in response to a report in the French media, which asserted that France Cricket has significantly exaggerated claims about the conduct of matches. In fact, the report alleges that France Cricket has been involved in the fabrication of matches and has been submitting falsified reports to the ICC.
While the ICC has been in contact with France Cricket and is gathering information, France Cricket dismissed the report as baseless:
“These are absolutely fake and baseless allegations from a British-origin journalist trying to get some attention, especially with myself being of Indian origin and at the helm for the past 10 years, they haven’t been any part of the system for a while for cricket in France.
“As Cricket recently has been included in the Olympics, if you try and understand, the timing couldn’t be better. Now, they are just trying to get some traction. We have already been in touch with ICC and our Lawyer is taking all the required measures,” Prebou Balane, the president of France Cricket told.
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