MELBOURNE, July 7: A cash bonanza it might be for players and administrators, but the Indian Premier League (IPL) also poses the biggest threat to cricket’s integrity since the 90’s match-fixing scandals, warns ICC’s anti-corruption unit chief Paul Condon.

Condon feels the IPL may go the Sharjah way, where several matches were suspected to have been fixed by a network of bookies in the 1990’s in collusion with players. “The IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah,” Condon told the ICC’s Executive Committee during the governing body’s annual conference.

Since the IPL is a domestic tournament, the ICC does not send its anti-corruption officials to keep an eye on the players and Condon feels this is precisely what makes it vulnerable to being hijacked by the bookies, ‘ The Age ‘ reported here on Monday.—Agencies