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The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday announced that it had withdrawn Pakistani Asad Rauf from its elite panel of umpires scheduled to officiate at the Champions Trophy to be staged in England and Wales in June. |
A statement from ICC said the decision was taken after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Indian
police in a spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 championship.
“In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said.
“In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy...”
Indian police widened their investigations into the IPL scandal with the arrest of several bookies from the cities of Kolkata, Chennai and Ajmer.
Three cricketers from the Rajasthan Royals team—Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila— film actor Vindoo Dara Singh and at least 20 bookies have been arrested in connection with the scandal which involves spot-betting on specific phases of play and individual performance.
The IPL is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in India since 2008, involving domestic and foreign players. It is said to be the world’s richest cricket tournament and has a brand value of $3 billion.