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KARACHI, July 26: All the major Test centres of the country require minor modifications to help the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) fight against the menace of match-fixing.

Col Nooruddin Khawaja, ACU's regional security manager, Friday said the National Stadium and the Gaddafi Stadium were upto mark. But added that a little more improvement was essential.

"I have surveyed and inspected all the stadia of the country, except the Multan Cricket Stadium. And except for minor improvements, the stadia look fine and in accordance to ACU's universal procedures," he said.

He, for the sake of confidentiality, refused to highlight the `minor' adjustments but emphasised that the stadia were built when the game was not marked by unsporting activities.

"The stadia will be upgraded, not only in Pakistan but everywhere in the world because of something ugly things that have happened in the recent past. ACU's task is to keep the sport as clean as a whistle and in that context, it has taken several measures. Upgradation of the stadia, including installation of surveillance or spy cameras, if required, is one of the standard procedures," he said.

He said the home board would be responsible for installation of modern equipment. He further said during international matches, he would report directly to the ACU if he had any suspicious.

Noor said he would also be talking to the Pakistan players and would be informing them about the latest measures the ACU was taking to deter foul play. But he insisted that the ACU was not suffocating the players.

"The cricketers will be briefed about the steps the ACU was taking and the cooperation it would be expecting from them. At the same time, the players will be given assurances that the ACU would neither be spying nor shadowing them.

"The players are entitled to free movement and the ACU would maintain that sanctity. But the players need to be explained as to what happened in the past, and what needs to be done in future."

He said most of the recommendations of the ACU have been enforced. He said the contracts the players were signing nowadays with their parent boards included fresh clauses, including penalties and punishments the players were liable to, for violation of code of conduct.

Interestingly, the ACU, that has a four million pounds budget and include highly paid officials from Scotland Yard, has failed to identify one single cricketer of being involved in match-fixing.

Sir Paul Condon, chief of the ACU, recently claimed that the game was now free of corruption. But everyone believes thatmatch-fixing was still ripe but as always, without any proof.

© Dawn