The International Cricket Council has today announced that anyone found guilty of match-fixing could be banned for life following their two-day emergency meeting at Lord's. ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, declared that cricket's image will not be allowed to suffer and insisted there was no place for corruption within the game, saying, ‘It has been decided that there will be stringent penalties, which may even be a life ban, if anyone is found guilty of misbehaviour.’
Meanwhile the former Pakistan international Imran Khan had criticised the ICC's proposals to offer immunity to international cricketers for coming clean about match-fixing. The former World Cup-winning captain said, ‘These proposals are bizarre – I don't know how anyone can come up with this idea. It is all very well for the ICC to offer immunity, but what about individual national cricket boards and the law of the land?’
Pakistan legend Imran claimed he had never been offered money to influence the outcome of a game. He continued, ‘During my 21 years of playing cricket I was never approached by anyone or offered a bribe. It seems to me that the people who were approached liked gambling. The bookies seemed to target people who might be susceptible.’
