Sir Paul Condon in Lahore Photo © CricInfo

LAHORE - The Head of ICC's independent unit to combat corruption, Sir Paul Condon, didn't say anything new in his press conference here Saturday, other than that he had come to show his respect to Pakistan and the PCB. "The purpose of this visit was to strengthen my links here. The sub-continent - Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - are going to be the centre of gravity in cricket, and it was important that I understood the vital issues from a Pakistani perspective", said he.

He did not dilate on any specifics discussed during his meeting with the PCB Chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, saying that it would be a breach of confidence if he divulged those.

When asked whether he had questioned Saleem Malik or met Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, he, for the umpteenth time during the press conference, avoided a specific answer when talking about personalities, by saying that "I have been very graciously granted everything that I had requested".

The purpose of the press conference was keeping up with a tradition that Sir Condon had established: meeting the local press as he had done in each of the countries he had visited. The recent three-nation event at the desert emirate of Sharjah, however, was an exception, but then Condon himself was not there, and only his sleuths conducted the investigations.

As to why he had not named names and avoided specifics, he said it was because of legal and natural constraints. "In judicial and criminal cases already decided it would have been a repetition, and in case of new inquiries there was this danger of spoiling the possibilities of action." Then there was, since he no longer was protected with a police uniform, the threat of defamation and legal action.

When asked whether he believed that his report would be well-received by all cricket boards, he said that he didn't want to prejudge, and that how the Boards responded to it was their prerogative. "They have to play their full role", to make this fight against corruption in cricket come to a meaningful conclusion. He believed that the ICC was fully committed to it, saying that it was a unique task as he and his unit were not only investigating corruption in cricket but also assisting all the cricket Boards in eliminating corruption, by helping them in their investigations and also criminal and legal procedures.

He specifically pointed out two cases in India in which his unit was providing assistance: those concerning to proving links between players and organised crime and also the one regarding a television rights deal for the 1998 ICC Knock-out tournament in Bangladesh.

To a question he said that he had benefited from each of the inquiries carried out so far, and these include Justice Qayyum's, and also those of the King Commission's and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation's. "I have drawn from experiences from around the world in an attempt to complete the jigsaw puzzle." The picture was far from complete, he conceded. But quite a lot had already been achieved, and a great part of the malpractice has been eliminated because of the deterrence factor, much of it contributed by his unit.

"Sadly, a small measure of malpractice still exists and there were ongoing inquiries in a number of countries", said he.

Drawing a sporting analogy, he said, that it was not a 100-metre sprint but a marathon. "Corruption of 20-plus years cannot be eliminated overnight", said he, pointing out that his Anti-Corruption unit was established only a year earlier and its five-member staff - consisting of three sleuths, one security expert and one computer and intelligence expert - assembled together and started work only eight months ago.

"There is an endeavour to move it forward. Cricket is a game about skill, courage, honour, luck and, of course, weather; it is not about mobile phones and shady deals", said he. To him, match-fixing was a wrong phrase to describe the phenomenon. "It should be cowardice instead, selling out this great game".

PCB and ICC officials Photo © CricInfo

He believed that small pockets of corruption that have survived so far would be totally expunged by the 2003 World Cup. "Things were already better, and improving month by month. Working collectively, we should be able to make it totally clean", said he, but immediately added, "you can never claim to have cleansed it hundred per cent. It takes one person to spoil that perfect record. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, and there might always be some who are tempted".

But he had no doubts that the malaise would be removed to an irreducible level.

Regarding the offshore venues, like Sharjah, Toronto and Singapore, which he had recommended to be avoided as cricketing destinations, he clarified that it was because in the carnival atmosphere in these places there is greater opportunity for the corrupters to spread their web. "There is need for greater vigilance at these venues and if the individual boards think that they can maintain a higher level of security, it is upto them [to participate in tournaments there]", said he.

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