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[esvee]

Kingston: Even as the Bob Woolmer murder mystery remained murky after two weeks, the ICC is probing three of its elite panel umpires as a part of its inquiry into match-fixing, a newspaper report claimed.

"The recent death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer here has triggered suggestions of match-fixing. In fact, the ICC has sent Jeff Rees from their Anti-Corruption Unit to do investigations of their own, but they stayed clear of suggesting that Woolmer knew about match-fixing," 'The Sunday Gleaner' reported today.

"Not only have players been implicated in match-fixing scandals but a well-placed source says at least three umpires on the ICC elite panels are being investigated by Lord Condon's ICC Anti-Corruption Unit," the report claimed.

"The intelligence source says these investigations were done because it was found that some umpires have offshore banking accounts thought to be set up by match-fixers," it said.

The ICC says that as a matter of policy they do not comment on whether an investigation is being or has been done.

"According to the intelligence expert, in matches where umpires are crooked, at least one captain is aware of the match-fixing scheme, so he normally brings his best bowler from the end where the umpire believed to be crooked is standing," it claimed.

The intelligence agent suggests that a series of matches within the last three years have prompted Lord Condon's team to investigate, and Woolmer was aware of these investigations, the report claimed.

http://www.mid-day.com/sports/international/2007/april/154616.htm