Sports
Zim Afro T10 organisers address corruption doubts
Harare: Organisers of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 have assuaged cricket fans about the integrity of the tournament ahead of its July 20 debut without compromising on the entertainment quotient in Harare, where some of the most exciting names in white-ball cricket have descended.
Organised by Zimbabwe Cricket along with T Ten Global Sports, it is the first tournament of its kind in the continent of Africa. Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani gave his nod to what is a new journey in the history of Zimbabwe as well as African cricket in general.
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“The Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 tournament, which is the first in Africa, the glamour and the opportunity around it with the international cricketers that are there, we thought it was a good opportunity for us and Zimbabwe cricket in a quest to rebuild and reposition ourselves in the arena of global cricket. It is a great opportunity for us to have this tournament here and everyone, the technical staff, players and even the fans and media, are all excited about,” said Mukuhlani.
Yet, there are questions about the integrity of the tournament with events mushrooming in distant parts of the world, and Mukuhlani addressed them with a straight bat. “Integrity is of top priority in any tournament, whether it is club cricket or bilateral cricket. And it’s no less for this tournament. We have gone through a whole process of due diligence, prior to licensing T10, and that involves working together with the integrity unit at the ICC.
“T10 is in its sixth year and the integrity checks have been put into place and addressed and we are working with the ICC Integrity Unit and our own security systems in Zimbabwe to ensure that the integrity of the game is not jeopardised. We can assure you we are doing everything to ensure the fans and players enjoy the game properly.”
Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, Zim Cyber City CEO Tendayi Hlupo-Mamvura and T10 franchise brand owner Shaji-ul-Mulk. Supplied photo
Adding to that, Mr Shaji Ul Mulk, chairman T-Ten Sports, said, “T10 when it first started needed to be sanctioned by the ICC. So, we took a conscious call that the integrity and anti-corruption contract to monitor would be given to the ICC themselves. For the last 6 years, in Abu Dhabi, the entire contract has been with the ICC, and even this year it is with the ICC for the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10, the Zimbabwe cricket board, who themselves have a robust system in place are working on it as well. We have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.”
The T10 format, the most explosive in the game of cricket, is the brainchild of Shaji Ul Mulk and originated from the UAE. “In our quest to become global, Zimbabwe is our first stop. We go to the US from here, then back to Abu Dhabi, and then Sri Lanka and then India after that. For us, it is about investing in the domestic structure all over and here in Zimbabwe we have conducted a grassroot school tournament and selected some of the good players for scholarships. We have also conducted a player development programme, and five of them will be inducted into the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 squads,” he added.
Mulk also hinted that introducing the T10 format to women’s cricket was also in the pipeline, with Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka as possible destinations.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>And there are cheerleaders here at the <a href=”https://twitter.com/ZimAfroT10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ZimAfroT10</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/zimafrot10_fans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@zimafrot10_fans</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CricketsFastestFormat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CricketsFastestFormat</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/KwiriTravels?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#KwiriTravels</a> <a href=”https://t.co/84SGdtQgQl”>pic.twitter.com/84SGdtQgQl</a></p>— larry kwirirayi ✍🎬 (@kwirirayi) <a href=”https://twitter.com/kwirirayi/status/1682399569106141184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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