Aust cricketers urged to out match-fixers

Cricket Australia will introduce new measures to fight match-fixing and doping in the sport, including an amnesty period for players to report information.

Cricket Australia will step up the fight against match-fixing and doping in the sport by offering an unprecedented amnesty period for players to report any corruption-related information.

CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association will announce the new measures on Monday, ahead of next year's World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand, in a bid to flush out nefarious characters who might be trying to corrupt the game of cricket.

There is no suggestion that any Australian players, officials or administrators are involved in illegal activity, but CA's senior manager of integrity Iain Roy said the threat of unlawful behaviour which could impact cricket's integrity was "very real".

Currently, players who fail to disclose details concerning a breach of the Anti-Corruption Code face bans of up to five years.

However, in a bid to shine the spotlight on unwanted intruders into the game, CA will waive bans should players come forward with information before the end of November.

The amnesty is for players and officials with information relating to incidents from the past which they were aware of but didn't report - but it does not apply to those who committed the corrupt or illegal acts themselves.

Roy believes the move will encourage more dialogue between players and anti-corruption officials, paving the way for the game to further clean up its image.

"We need to ensure the Australian public has full faith in the integrity of the game and the way it is administered," Roy said in a statement.

"We hope that granting a short amnesty period in relation to any previous non-reporting of relevant facts will encourage anyone with information to come forward.

"While we have a culture of reporting, we think there are still some who are not as forthcoming as we would like.

"We want to change that by facilitating a process for players and others to freely come forward with relevant information.

"We encourage players and officials to subscribe to the message that if you see it or hear it, you should report it."

In addition, CA has also set up a reporting hotline for players, officials and administrators to securely provide information - a move which was supported by ACA's cricket operations manager Graham Manou.

"In the past, players have told us they've had some concerns about reporting questionable approaches," Manou said.

"With the integrity hotline, they should have confidence that information may be reported confidentially and is being treated appropriately.

"We believe each of these measures will build trust and therefore lead to better information sharing."


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