France Cricket has been accused by players and clubs along with recent members of the board for lying to access International Cricket Council (ICC) funds, France24 report said. The ICC are seriously looking at the allegations according to reports.

Former France international cricketer Tracy Rodriguez had doubts in her mind regarding a statement from the board last year which said that '25% of French cricket players are women and that 91 women's matches were to be organised that year.'

She wanted to see for herself whether so many women's matches were being held, especially in the women's second-division tournament, which comprises nine teams, all but one based within the Paris region.

Last year Rodriguez went to grounds where a match was scheduled.

"Two or three times I [went] there, people were having picnics and kids cycling around at the time of the games. Then the day after I would see the results of the games online," Rodriguez was quoted as saying by France24.

The France24 team wanted to verify whether some of the matches were faked.

At the Sarcelles Cricket Ground north of Paris, the women's second division match between the Paris Knight Riders and Saint-Omer was slated to be held on September 2, at 2pm. The investigation from France24 found that instead of the women's game, the men's U-19 semi-final was taking place at the ground.

Three days later, France Cricket rubber-stamped the match as having taken place and posted the results on their website with fake scorecards.

"Most clubs cheat, they pretend to have a women's team. They pay for licences and then they fake score sheets online. We have refused to fake matches and that means that even if we qualify we're likely to never be able to get a promotion." the coach of a club has been quoted in the report as saying.

Men's U-19 semifinal taking place at the ground where a women's match was supposed to be taking place on September 2, 2023. Photo: France24

The report said that according to a 2021 ICC presentation on the state of cricket in France, the ICC provides 60-70% of France Cricket's total budget, roughly $320,000 out of a total of $520,000 for the year 2022. Almost half of these ICC funds are meant to support women's and juniors' cricket.

ESPNCricinfo and Cricbuzz both reported that the ICC are now taking the allegations seriously and is expected to begin investigations.