Ex-ICC Match Referee Stirs Controversy, Claims He Was Asked To Be Lenient Towards India

Chris Broad claims he was instructed to be lenient towards India during matches, accusing them of political influence in the ICC and of taking over cricket's governing body.

Chris Broad served as ICC match referee from 2003 to 2024

Source : X, @ICC

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Former ICC match referee, Chris Broad, has made controversial claims while speaking with The Telegraph, stating that he was asked to be lenient towards India during a match. 

Broad is a former cricketer himself, and father of England's modern-era great, Stuart Broad. He served as an International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee from 2003 to early 2024. Here's what he claimed about being instructed to go easy on India:

"India were three, four overs down at the end of a game so it constituted a fine, I got a phone call saying, ‘be lenient, find some time because it’s India.’ So we had to find some time and brought it down below the threshold."

He also recalled an incident in which Sourav Ganguly, the Men in Blue's captain at the time, allegedly ignored the match referee's warnings.

"He didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups, So I phoned and said, ‘what do you want me to do now?’ and I was told ‘just do him’. So there were politics involved, right from the start."

Broad Accuses India Of Taking Over ICC

In the same interview, Chris Broad accused India of having "taken over the ICC", stating he was pleased about not being in the role anymore.

"India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC so in many ways. I’m pleased I’m not around because it’s a much more political position now than it ever has been."

India is one of the biggest forces in cricket today, alongside England and Australia, especially after the explosion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which started in 2008.

However, it must be noted that Chris Broad didn't mentioned any particular timeframe regarding the incidents that he has claimed to have happened.

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