A former France women's international and board member, Tracy Rodriguez, initially made the allegations to France24; She claimed she attended scheduled matches, only to find they weren't held
Friday 10 November 2023 12:29, UK
The ICC is investigating France Cricket over allegations that it staged fake games to show its commitment to women's cricket and secure funding.
It comes after reports in France claimed France Cricket falsified match results.
Tracy Rodriguez, who was a former France women's international and board member, initially made the allegations to France24, claiming she attended scheduled matches, only to find they weren't held.
"Two or three times I [went] there, people were having picnics and kids cycling around at the time of the game," Rodriquez told France24.
"Then the day after I would see the results of the games online."
Rodriguez was elected to the France Cricket Board in June 2021 and when she would raise questions about women's matches other members would laugh at her. She eventually quit her position in February 2023.
France24 also investigated the claims and found that instead of a scheduled women's second-division game between the Paris Knight Riders and Saint-Omer, a men's U19 semi-final was taking place.
The semi-final was scheduled to have ended earlier and once it did around 3.30pm, the women's game did not take place. However, three days later, France Cricket posted the results on their website saying the match had taken place.
When questioned about the game, Paris Knight Riders and Saint-Omer gave contradicting answers with one club saying the game did take place as scheduled but the other club saying the game was moved on short notice to another ground.
France24 also received a phone call from a spokesperson at France Cricket saying not to contact the clubs directly.
France won the silver medal at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, the only time cricket has been held at the Olympics. They also featured in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada winning only one of their five matches. They now play most of their matches in European Cricket Council (ECC) tournaments
In order to become a full member of the ICC, the governing body requires every national men's team to also have a national women's team.
The ICC has told Sky Sports News that it is investigating these allegations.
Sky Sports News has contacted France Cricket for comment.
