KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP): The 2007 World Cup will continue despite the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, whom police in Jamaica say was murdered, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Thursday.

Woolmer, who died on Sunday at the age 58 after being found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room, was strangled to death, police said.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed. AFP PHOTO

"This is not the first time that tragedy has visited a sporting event but what we must all do now is to show how resolute the game is by proving ourselves strong enough to move on from what has happened," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement.

"The best way to do that is for the teams that remain in the tournament to play out a great World Cup, something that will help put the smile back on the face of our great sport.

"By doing that we will demonstrate that cricket cannot be put off by a cowardly criminal act," he said.

"And if the players and officials of all the competing teams can do that, then it would be a fitting tribute to Bob Woolmer and the contribution he has made to our sport as a fine player and an outstanding coach at all levels."

Speed added that the entire cricket community was shocked by the death of Woolmer, a former England Test batsman and South Africa coach.

"When we first learnt of Bob's death a wave of sadness washed over the whole of the cricket community," said Speed.

"That sadness has now been replaced with a profound sense of shock at the news that his death is being treated as murder, and everyone connected with this event will assist the police in any way possible to ensure the truth emerges.

"However, as the matter is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, we will not comment on it, nor will we comment on the rumour and speculation it has given rise to over the past few days."

World Cup chief executive and managing director Chris Dehring added: "We have reviewed security arrangements in conjunction with the ICC and local agencies and consulted with all the teams and they have told us they are comfortable with those arrangements.

"On that basis, it is up to the Jamaica Constabulary Force to get on with its job while our focus now is on some great cricket to come."

Confirmation that the Woolmer death was now a murder inquiry came at a news conference here after investigators had called in an American pathologist for a second opinion.

"The pathologist's report states that Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation," Jamaican police spokesman Karl Angell told reporters.

"In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated by the Jamaica police as a case of murder."

Former Scotland Yard detective Mark Shields, now Jamaica's deputy commissioner of police, is heading the investigation.

He had said on Tuesday that the death of Woolmer was being treated as suspicious.

On Thursday, Shields said that it was not known how many people were in the hotel room at the time of the crime.

"It would take significant force to strangle him," said Shields.

"But we don't know at this point how many people were in his room -- there was very little evidence of a struggle."

Among the many rumours being put forward for the killing was that Woolmer was about to reveal what he knew about alleged match-fixing.

But asked on Thursday if the Pakistan team had discussed the possibility that Woolmer's death might have been linked to match fixing, team spokesman Pervez Mir said: "Absolutely not. The players as far as I know have not spoken about any match-fixing or any match-fixing incident because there is no question of that.

"I think they are more concerned about what has happened to Bob," he told Sky News.

"They are more concerned as to the reasons and of course if there was anything else something might have come out, but match fixing no, nothing at all."

Woolmer had close-up knowledge of match-fixing. He was the South Africa coach when former captain Hansie Cronje was bought off by bookmakers in 1996.

The 32-year-old Cronje was killed in a plane crash in South Africa in June, 2002.