Fix players’ wages to rid of corruption from cricket: Canadian investigator

SYDNEY - Canadian investigator and author Declan Hill believes that low wages given to Pakistan’s cricketers is the main reason behind the ’spot-fixing’ scandal hitting the game.

Hill revealed that he had recommended to FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to fix players’ wages to rid the game of corruption.

He called for similar steps in cricket, and urging the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take responsibility for paying players by implementing a minimum wage as a major step towards stopping corruption.

“There may be an argument that the Pakistan players are paid well [relative to the general population], but some of the officials are paid as much or considerably more,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hill, as saying.

“The New Zealand players [for example] might not be paid well, but neither are their officials. So, they don’t feel like they’re being exploited like the Pakistanis,” he added.

Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) chief Tim May backed Hill’s argument, and said: “This situation is showing us that you need a culture of accountability, not only from the players, but also the boards.”

“The problem is that there’s no use trying to build such a culture if you have administrators - the people the team looks up to as their leaders - doing exactly the opposite. They’re not accountable,” he added.

He further admitted that it was unacceptable that officials are getting a heap of money out of the game and players are getting considerably less.

“It ruins relationships between the groups. There aren’t player associations in Pakistan and with an unstable administrative body, there’s really no hope of building a relationship of respect between players and officials,” he added. (ANI)