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Rediff.com  » Sports » ICC to get tough on "hooligan" behaviour

ICC to get tough on "hooligan" behaviour

December 12, 2005 18:23 IST
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The International Cricket CouncilĀ underlined its determination on Monday to stop cricket from becoming a "hooligan" sport.

ICC President Ehsan Mani told Reuters that the world body isĀ concerned about increasing incidents of verbal sparring between international teams.

"We don't want cricket being reduced to a level where it turns into a hooligans' sport and the spirit of the game is eroded," Mani said.

The ICC issued a verbal warning to players on Sunday after a prolonged war of words between Australia and South Africa.

Mani said the ICC would completely back umpires and match referees in enforcing the players' code of conduct because even sporting banter could only be tolerated to a certain level.

"What we are looking at is introducing a uniform consistency in the way the match officials enforce the code of conduct," he said. "There is some inconsistency at the moment but we are very serious about this issue."

He pointed out that ICC match officials have been asked to be strict in dealing with players' on the field behaviour.

"And you will see that we are not going to let up on this at all," Mani said. "We can't allow the spirit of the game to be compromised."

The ICC Code of Conduct governs the players and officials behaviour on and off the field. In recent months number of players have been penalised for violating the code.

Mani said the ICC would be discussing this issue in detail as cricket was now a more global sport and widely followed by youngsters around the world.

"Cricketers are role models for millions around the world and they must always remember that," he said.

The ICC has fined 38 players and officials this year for violating the code of conduct while in the last two months there have been eight breaches reported by ICC match officials, twice the number of guilty verdicts than in the same period last year.

Mani said the ICC accepted that verbal exchanges between players in tense and competitive matches was part of the game but wanted to ensure players and officials did not cross the line which separates cricket from other sports.

"We can't have a situation like we see in football," he added.

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Source: REUTERS
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