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LAUSANNE, Switzerland: The criminal convictions of three Pakistan players for fixing should not damage cricket's hopes of becoming an Olympic sport, IOC President Jacques Rogge said Wednesday.
Rogge praised the International Cricket Council governing body for ''working very well'' against corruption.
The Pakistan case would ''definitely ... not be held against (the ICC) because we know they participate in the fight'' against fixing and illegal betting, Rogge said.
Rogge has previously suggested cricket's shorter Twenty20 version could seek future Olympic status. The earliest opportunity for cricket to get onto the Olympic program would be the 2024 Summer Games.
Rogge, who has made tackling fixing and illegal betting a priority ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, said the Pakistan case confirmed what sports leaders knew of the problem.
''We knew there was an endemic illegal betting in sport, not just in cricket. There has been match-fixing in many, many sports,'' the International Olympic Committee president said.
''Cricket and the ICC are working very well against that, and they are really doing their best efforts.''
Rogge spoke on the sidelines of a promotional event for the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games, which open Jan. 13 in Innsbruck, Austria.
