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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHYMay 25, 2017Sir Ronnie FlanaganThe Oval, London SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Good morning, everyone, and thanks for coming along. It's a pleasure to be with you virtually on the eve of this one week away from a fantastic Champions Trophy. What a wonderful tournament, the best eight teams in the world for that format of our game competing in 15 games over 18 days. Wonderful for the fans, millions of fans all over the world to have the opportunity to cheer on their team. But of course, come the 18th of July at The Oval, there can only be one winner, and what's important for the Anti-Corruption Unit is that no matter who is the winner, who has the privilege of taking that trophy home to share the celebrations with their millions of fellow countrymen and women, what's important for us is that everybody else in the tournament can say genuinely that they gave of their best and that they were not susceptible in any form to any form of corruption. That's our job, and we want to demonstrate through partnerships with so many people involved, most of all partnerships with the players through their representative bodies to demonstrate to the players that we, the ACU, are their friend, that we are there to protect them against the evil and criminal intentions of others who would try and lure them into a trap in many ways to manipulate an event that can then facilitate illegal gambling, through which organised criminals make a lot of money. And I say that to bring in other elements of those with whom we work in close partnership, for example, the National Crime Agency, and you will have seen examples of that very recently in the PSL, the Pakistan Super League, where we and the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit and the National Crime Agency were working and continue to work in very close liaison. We have continued that liaison with the National Crime Agency for this tournament, just as we have made sure we have adequate liaison with our policing colleagues in West Midlands and in London and in Wales for every match, making sure that every venue is treated as a unique location, and whatever the needs of that unique location are, that we provide them to make sure we have a clean, free-from-corruption tournament that people can genuinely enjoy. So that's what the Anti-Corruption Unit is all about, working in partnerships, and we have a further partnership with the gambling commission, which we value very highly, whereby if they sense in the legitimate markets, the regulated markets, if you like, any suspicious betting, that they immediately inform of us that and we can take action. I've said before at these press conferences that we engage Sport Radar, who do a very good job for us, both proactively and sometimes reactively, in looking at exactly those patterns, and indeed working with Sport Radar, we not only monitor the legitimate, the regulated market, but we are doing our very best to continue to build our knowledge of how the illegitimate gambling market, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, works. So we are determined to work in partnerships with all those groups, all those agencies that I've mentioned, to make sure this is a corruption-free tournament, that the public at large can enjoy, that the players can relish taking part in, and that it will be a safe, secure, corruption-free, successful tournament. So with that, I'd be very happy to take any questions any of you might have. Q. Obviously I appreciate you are here to talk about anti-corruption, but I just wondered with your background whether you have any thoughts on the security situation in the country at the moment. SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Yeah, absolutely. The dreadful events in Manchester the other evening are still very much live in all our minds, and first and foremost, our thoughts are still with the families and people affected by that terrible terrorist act. So as you say, with my background, such things sadly are not unusual, and so far as this tournament is concerned, we in the ICC have a group of very professional security colleagues who are working very closely with police colleagues, but of course in conducting their threat analysis, their risk analysis, which they always do, they have to take into account not only past events but recently past events, and in this case including what happened in Manchester. So I have every confidence that we cannot yield in any way to terrorists' intentions, and therefore I would ask the public to be vigilant, and the old adage, if they see something, to say something, but come to our matches secure in the knowledge that they will be safe and secure, but come expecting some additional inconvenience, expecting pat-down searches, vehicle searches, et cetera, and searches of any equipment they bring with them. There will be fast lanes for those who are not carrying equipment, so that might be an encouragement for people who might have normally brought picnics and all sorts of things; maybe they want to reconsider that. But basically come safe and secure in the knowledge that we will make this a safe, secure tournament, and don't let the terrorists have their way. You know, in my experience, sport can be a wonderfully positive influence in the face of adversity and in the face of terrorism. We've seen that in South Africa. I saw it firsthand in Ireland, and Manchester has shown, to the admiration of the world over the past few days, that however diverse Manchester is as a city, it's united against that adversity and terrorism, and I would be certain that in Manchester, there will be supporters of every one of our eight teams playing in this tournament. So perhaps this tournament just might offer a little opportunity to break through the gloom in some small way. Q. Have any of the teams expressed any concerns so far as you're aware with regards to security? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Not that has reached my knowledge. I am certainly not aware of that, but in terms of all of that close liaison, that assurance will be passed on firsthand to anyone who might have concerns, that those concerns will be fully and effectively addressed. Q. In terms of the way that a potential corruptor would seek to influence a player, obviously it's a fast-moving world, isn't it, in terms of media and internet or whatever. If there was somebody the next few weeks who was trying to make contact with a cricketer using WhatsApp or using social media or using the dark web that we hear about, do you have the resources and expertise to actually intercept that level of contact at the moment? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: You will have seen recent cases whereby examining as part of your investigation those means of communication has been very important. In fact, and I've said this in previous press conferences where you might have been present, that we are moving very quickly to a change in our code of conduct, whereby at present we in cricket have the ability to demand from players their billing records. We are moving to a point, even though legally, where players sign up to assist in our investigations, so legally at present, we have the ability to require their communication devices for us to download only in relation to any suspicious communications there may have been without in any way intruding in their privacy. But rather than just move to that step, we are consciously working very closely with the representative bodies who represent players to reassure them that we would not be interested in any private communications, but there may be communications that are very important to us through the likes of WhatsApp or other elements of the social media. So we are constantly improving our ability in that regard to monitor contacts through social media, and in the monitoring of it, change our code of conduct with the full knowledge given to players and consultation of players to reassure them on those grounds of privacy that I've mentioned. So it's a very important element of our investigations. Q. Are you aware of any specific threats to this tournament at this stage? Have you had any intelligence or anything about targeting the Champions Trophy? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: No, we don't have specific intelligence at this stage of intentions to corrupt the tournament, but that doesn't give us any sense of complacency whatsoever. We saw just very recently in the Pakistan Super League in Dubai instances that we will be guarding against, in terms of, to go back to the previous question, the attempts to communicate with players and the attempt to draw players in, try and convince them, look, you can do something that won't in any way affect the outcome of the game and it's easy money. All these are tactics that they use to try and draw players in, and then perhaps having drawn one in, use that player as some sort of channel to pollute the atmosphere with some other players. Having seen that just very recently, and I was in Lahore last week giving evidence in connection with that investigation, we are very alive to that and very determined to keep that out of this tournament and indeed other subsequent tournaments in the future. Q. Just to go back to your comments about the Manchester situation, in light of your experience in Ireland, just interested in your perspective on what clearly seems to be deliberate targeting of events where people are gathered together and people enjoying themselves. We've seen this since the Lahore attacks in cricket that increasingly mass gatherings of this sort are seen as legitimate targets by terrorists that perhaps wasn't the case back in the day. How much can you take your learnings from your career in fighting terrorism into accepting the new realities, I guess, of what this means for sporting events and gatherings of this type? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Insofar as the security at the events and the matches are concerned, it's not my personal responsibility, but I work very closely with very professional colleagues whose responsibility it is. So going back in my own personal policing experience, it just could not be more abhorrent that someone is prepared to target the most innocent, the most vulnerable, and clearly waits until they see they have enough of those vulnerable targets around them before launching the attack against them. It's absolutely abhorrent. But in analyzing that, the professional colleagues I'm lucky to have the privilege to work with take all of that into account, working very closely with the police forces concerned who will cover the various venues for the upcoming tournament. So I have every confidence, and I think the public and the fans in our case can have every confidence in the professionalism of the British police and how they responded and how they will have looked at the lessons and applied those lessons to upcoming tournaments, including ours. And of course with the FA Cup Final this very Saturday, with the Chelsea Flower Show, we have the Rugby Premiership Final, and we have our tournament looming, followed by the Women's World Cup shortly after, and we will all be working together to make sure that those fans who want to come and see all of those events are properly and safely looked after. Q. Brendon McCullum had some pretty strong criticisms to make against the Anti-Corruption Units and the way evidence was gathered after the case that he was involved in. Have you addressed the concerns that he expressed, and have you improved those methods in the last -- SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Yes, I mean, I've spoken to Brendon personally about this, and reminded Brendon, as I remind you now, that that case was not a cricket internal disciplinary case. That was a police case, so Brendon became a witness in a high-profile police case. So Brendon very understandably felt somewhat exposed in all those proceedings, and I have explained to Brendon exactly what the limitations are in terms of how we could or could not be close to him during an ongoing criminal investigation. I have the highest regard for Brendon McCullum and his willingness to come forward and offer the evidence that he did and always will have that highest level of regard for what he did. Q. Are you confident that all the players here are aware of their responsibilities in terms of the channels that they need to go through if they're approached while they're here? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Absolutely, and of course we have the education process just starting in this week preceding the tournament to do exactly that, team by team, of not only the players but the support staff and the match officials, reminding them, of course, of their responsibilities, but reminding them also of the sorts of approaches that might be made. You know, we have long since moved away from activities to determine the actual outcome of a game and who's going to win. We've long since moved away from when that was what people bet upon, who was going to win, and therefore who was going to lose, so we remind them of what events they might be asked to manipulate, that a bowler might be asked to deliberately bowl a wide or a no-ball, that a batsman might be asked to deliver the play of dot ball, a delivery on which he would make or she would make no runs, or they might be asked to work in brackets, that a batsman or batswoman might be asked to lose their wicket for less than 10 runs and those things. So we remind them of the things they might be asked to do. We remind them of the tactics, the approaches that might be made through social media and by other means, and sometimes these people pretend, for example, to offer them sponsorship, pretend to offer them business deals just as a means of getting close to them. So in this particular tournament, as with other tournaments, that process is starting as we speak to remind everyone who is bound by the code of conduct, yes, what their responsibilities under that code are, but also of the tactics and the approaches and the actual questions and demands that might be made of them, and they immediately have the means of contact with our anti-corruption managers who are here, who will be covering every match, and we will be asking the players to get in touch even if they are remotely suspicious of an approach. I constantly tell them, I would rather have a hundred reports that on investigation turned out to be about innocent approaches. I would rather have a hundred of those than miss the one that turns out to be very telling that we can actually pursue and bring people properly to justice. And in respect of those people over whom we have no remit, in other words, the bookies, the fixers, who aren't bound by any code of conduct, through that very close liaison, and in this case through our official memorandum of understanding with the National Crime Agency, we can pass that information to them in working partnership so that they can bring those people properly to book, as well. Q. Do the recent events at the PSL show that cricket still has a serious problem with corruption, or is it more that you're getting better at weeding out the wrongdoers? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Probably a bit of both. It's difficult to comment, of course, in detail when the PCB independent tribunal is currently hearing that case, but I think it does certainly remind us very vividly that there is no room whatsoever for complacency. And in that regard, when I talk about partnerships, a very important partnership, some years ago, I briefed the ICC board about what in policing is called the risk of displacement, that the harder you make one particular target, the more likely is a criminal to move and be displaced to attack what they would think is a softer or an easier target. And in that context, when we talked about having arrangements to protect the international game, the board moved quickly those few years ago, I think by 2013, to create local domestic anti-corruption units in England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, and all the major Test playing nations, and we're extending that to those nations who have T20 and ODI international status, and we'll extend it so far as is possible right across the game. But when I talk about partnerships, the partnership that we, the Central Anti-Corruption Unit looking after the international game have with those domestic units is absolutely crucial, and the PSL just before that, what happened in South Africa, wonderful examples of the central Anti-Corruption Unit working with the local domestic Anti-Corruption Unit and indeed working with local policing organisations, because in South Africa, as it exists in Australia and New Zealand, there are specific criminal offenses in relation to sporting manipulation, and in other countries, we are doing what we can to encourage the passing of such legislation elsewhere. So again, I come back to those partnerships, but as important a partnership as any is that partnership between the Central Anti-Corruption Unit in cricket and the individual domestic Anti-Corruption Unit so that the game gets what the Americans would call the best bang from its buck, if you like, in terms of what it has invested in keeping cricket clean as a whole. Q. In light of all that, in light of the work that cricket has done and indeed the very high profile criminal cases especially in this country which have been brought, it must disappoint you that some players are still not reporting approaches because they must know about it, the education has been in place throughout the world. You must be disappointed that some players are not reporting -- SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: Of course when players -- and I would love to have the skill and talent to represent my country in international sport, and when people have that God-given talent and when they work desperately hard to improve and maintain that talent, I think that comes with responsibilities, as well, to realise that they are role models for others, particularly younger people coming into the game. So of course when people fall below the high standards that are quite rightly expected of them, it is disappointing, very disappointing indeed. And again, I think that's a telling message to cricketers delivered more and more by those who have fallen short of those high standards and who have ruined their lives in some instances as a result of that falling short, that when they tell through our education programmes other players, please don't make the mistakes that I made, please don't ruin your life in the way that I ruined mine, I think that's a very telling and poignant lesson for all of those not to fall short of those high standards that are quite properly expected. Q. There's been reports that the PSL investigation began as a result of evidence from the National Crime Agency in the UK; is that correct? SIR RONNIE FLANAGAN: It was a mixture. As it happened, the domestic Anti-Corruption Unit within the PCB had some intelligence through our formal memorandum of understanding. First of all, I should say that the PSL in terms of anti-corruption effort, that effort was being provided by the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit in Dubai with, as we know, the ultimate final to be played in Lahore. But when the NCA passed information to me through our official memorandum of understanding, and I immediately passed that to our colleagues in the domestic unit of the PCB, it coincided exactly with the intelligence that they had just at that time received. So it meant we were all working together, our central unit as I described, the local PCB unit, and the NCA, all on the same page, to use the jargon. Thank you very much indeed, everybody, and I hope you enjoy a wonderful tournament just like everybody else. Thank you very much indeed. ------ DO NOT PUBLISH ANY TEXT BELOW THIS LINE Approved by Tim W FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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