A new case of cricket match fixing in South Africa has been exposed at the conclusion of the domestic Ram Slam T20 tournament.
The kingpin is said to be a former Protea international, who is as yet unnamed but has been charged with contriving to “fix, or otherwise improperly influence aspects of the tournament”. This individual has further been charged with refusing to cooperate with Cricket South Africa’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. If this case is proven in court, this individual will most certainly face jail time.
Domestic players who were involved or who were approached to become involved are also facing the lesser criminal charge of failing to report suspicious or illegal activity, which does form part of their professional contracts.
Match fixing is not endemic to South African cricket, but Cricket South Africa will find it difficult to defend the integrity of the South African game given the well known Hansie Cronje case, which also implicated Herchelle Gibbs and Henry Williams, with Cronje being banned from all forms of cricket for life and Gibbs and Williams receiving bans of six months.
Once charges are formalized and all the role players are identified, this case is expected to hit international headlines. Cricket South Africa and the South African judicial system will have the eyes of the world and the ICC on them, with the expectation of maximum sentences being handed out.
This case could not have come at a worse time for Cricket South Africa, not only from a cricketing integrity point of view, but also from a sponsorship perspective. Sponsorship in cricket is hard to come by in South Africa, with the two smaller franchises often having to play without title sponsors. RAM couriers are a relatively new sponsor in cricket and will not be enjoying being associated with the negative publicity.
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