Nairobi: A Kenyan lawyer Wednesday accused the ICC of applying double standards in probing cases of match-fixing against players.

Making his objections in Nairobi in a preliminary hearing against former Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe, lawyer Ishan Kapila said the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit had violated the rules of justice against his client.

“Although Odumbe had admitted his dealings with Indian businessman Jagdish Sodhi, whom he did not know was a bookmaker, he had not taken money to throw away matches,” Kapila said. “There is discrepancy in the attitude they have taken against a lesser known player when top cricketers, who had open dealings with well-known bookmakers, have not been charged with any offence,” Kapila said.

“The offence of inappropriate conduct against Odumbe is vaguely worded. It is not possible to get reasons that the sport of cricket has been brought into disrepute,” he added.

Presiding over the hearing which lasted over four hours at a Nairobi hotel, former Zimbabwean High Court judge Ahmed Ebrahim set the ruling for July 27. Kapila, a leading Kenyan criminal lawyer, said he would object to the allegations levelled against his client in his submissions at the ruling.

Odumbe faces a life ban if found guilty of the offence. He becomes the first player to be censured on charges linked to match-rigging since December 2000.

Odumbe told AFP Tuesday that he had travelled to India on previous occasions to purchase medicine for his late brother and former international teammate, Martin Orewa, to treat an AIDS-related ailment. (AFP)