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LONDON: Countries who lack the resolution to deal with corrupt cricketers should be barred from the sport the first head of the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit Lord Condon told the BBC on Sunday.
The 64-year-old former head of the Metropolitan Police - who became the first head of the unit in 2000 following the match fixing scandal involving then South African captain Hansie Cronje - added that the ICC also had to get tougher with their punishments.
Condon - who was succeeded by former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan - was speaking following the prison sentences handed down in London on Thursday to three Pakistani cricketers and their agent Mazhar Majeed for spot-fixing in last year's test series against England.
“The ICC has to give out the harshest sentences it can,” he said.
“The nuclear option is banning boards from international cricket.
“The ICC must get tougher. This is a big wake-up call. Cricket is at a credibility crossroads.
“The ICC and national boards have to be tough and, if they are not, they have to face the consequences.”
Lord Condon, who stepped down in June last year, said the three cricketers - former captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir - deserved to go to jail.
The trio received five year bans from the sport from the ICC in February.
“They deserved the sentences they got,” said Lord Condon.
“I have mixed reactions - sadness but I'm not surprised. They betrayed their country and millions of people around the world who love cricket.”
Condon also praised the now defunct British tabloid the News of the World for exposing the agent and the players, which he said the ICC would never have been able to do and take them to court are complex.
