Dubai: Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, made the following statement after the announcement of the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Disciplinary Panel in relation to the cases brought against Mervyn Westfield and Danish Kaneria.

Speaking in Kuala Lumpur where ICC will hold its 2012 Annual Conference, Mr Lorgat said: “The ICC has been closely following the case and notes the outcomes of the ECB’s disciplinary process, including the sanctions imposed on both players.

“While not wishing to comment on the specifics of the case because it is a domestic matter, I can say that the ICC takes no pleasure from players being found guilty of corrupt behaviour and we hope that this verdict provides further warning to any person who might, for whatever reason, contemplate corrupt activity within our sport.

“I reiterate, as I have on every occasion that I have spoken on this matter, that the ICC has a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption and that we and our Member Boards will use everything within our powers to ensure that any hint of corrupt activity within the game is comprehensively investigated and, where appropriate, robustly prosecuted.

“To that end, the ICC Board had instructed all Member Boards to implement domestic Anti-Corruption codes which mirror that of the ICC and the fact that the ECB has a code and through their ACCESS Unit empowered themselves to investigate and successfully prosecute this case, is to be commended.”

The ICC’s own Anti-Corruption Code requires a decision based on a Member Board’s domestic anti-corruption rules to be recognised and respected by the ICC and all the other Member Boards. 

Lorgat said: “It is opportune that the ICC Board meets this week and I will ask the Board to remind all Members to put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the sanctions imposed on both players in this case are appropriately recognised and respected outside of the ECB’s domestic jurisdiction.

“The need to protect the game from corruption requires every one of us, including the players, to remain vigilant and work tirelessly to that end. The increased popularity and television coverage for various domestic competitions around the world requires much more than just the ICC to be vigilant and we acknowledge the ECB’s efforts in this respect.”