Sports; Match Fixing Probe: Inaction Replay


	July 17, 2000

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MATCH-FIXING PROBE
Inaction Replay

Two months into the investigation and the CBI is not even close to naming the guilty

By Sayantan Chakravarty

Interview with S.S.Dhindsa

India Today issue dated July 17, 2000 Indian cricket has spent two months in torment. Ever since the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered to investigate the Indian hand in the match-fixing scandal, fingers have been pointed and the game's more prominent names have been called to question. One by one, Mohammed Azharuddin, I.S. Bindra, Nayan Mongia, Nikhil Chopra, Manoj Prabhakar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Prashant Vaidya, Ajit Wadekar, Ali Irani and Sunil Dev have walked into the CBI's offices and faced the interrogators.

After the release of the Delhi Police transcripts, not a day has gone by without rumour, innuendo and leaks. While the King Commission in South Africa has conducted its business with some direction and much openness, the increasingly impatient Indians want to know where the CBI has reached so far. At the end of two months, the CBI isn't sure whether what they have from players and officials can add up to much in a court of law. But the agency is in no hurry to satisfy public curiosity. "We can't put a time frame, it may take three to six months more," says a top CBI official. "Investigations take time. One cannot ignore any lead, any fresh name."

The CBI remains confident that it has followed the right track and the right leads and bravely says it will be able to do justice to the inquiry. Union Sports Minister S.S. Dhindsa goes so far as to say that he has reason to suspect "five or six players, maybe even more, could be involved in match-fixing" (see interview).

Confidence aside, piecing together information and making it work in a court of law is the CBI's biggest hurdle. The Manoj Prabhakar video tapes, which were expected to take matter forward are not quite the clincher. A match-fixing probe team member admits the tapes "do not add up to evidence ... One cricketer merely accusing another of being close to a Dubai don has little value by way of evidence. So in the end the tapes are just one man's words against the other's."

Proving charges of cheating against the Indian cricketers under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code is equally tough. A court needs complainants, witnesses; neither TV viewers nor radio listeners technically qualify as being those cheated by a cricketer fixing matches (as there was no compulsion for them to watch a "fixed" match). Only those who paid to watch form the cheated party but who can trace those thousands?

The CBI believes its case is stronger on other fronts: it claims it has phone records linking leading cricketers to bookies as well as evidence to suggest that many of them have assets disproportionate to their declared sources of income. One such player has been gifted five Mercedes cars in three continents. A CBI official even claims to be a witness to a celebrated cricketer's big money gambles at the Delhi Golf Club. "The level of betting he indulges in -- crores of rupees a year -- leads us to believe that he may be part of a match-fixing syndicate," he says.

It is a tenuous connection. Which leaves the CBI's great game plan to clean up Indian cricket depending too much on circumstantial evidence like Sunil Dev's statement claiming he had prior information that one of the cricketers was going to throw his wicket away for a "consideration" during the India-South Africa Cape Town Test in 1996.

Next on the CBI's interview list are: cricketers-turned-commentators Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, present coach Kapil Dev, his predecessor Anshuman Gaekwad, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja and the elusive Ajay Sharma. There is even the possibility the entire Indian team as well as bookies who have slipped past the CBI till now may be questioned.

For want of hard evidence the CBI may be forced to try another tack. Says an investigator: "Basically, we shall give a report that will make people believe match-fixing exists." In the end, as Dhindsa says, the idea is not to "send guilty cricketers to jail". It is to throw their names before the public and let things be decided from there on.

With naming and shaming on the CBI's mind, Indian cricket can hardly breathe easy. More troubles lie ahead.

I n t e r v i e w : S. S. D H I N D S A
"Five to Six Players are involved"

Union minister for sports S.S. Dhindsa feels that if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not act to clean up the game, the Government will step in. Last week, he spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla and Principal Correspondent Sayantan Chakravarty. Excerpts:

Q. How do you view Indian cricket in the wake of the match-fixing scam?
A. At this point, the nation has little trust in cricketers. I have information that the juniormost cricketers in the Indian team have assets worth Rs 10 crore. As for seniors, the figure could go up to Rs 200 crore.

Q. Do you feel Mohammed Azharuddin and Kapil Dev should step down from the team since their names figure in the scandal?
A. After Hansie Cronje said on oath that he had been introduced by Azhar to a man who turned out to be a bookie, Azhar should have stepped down. An allegation on oath is serious.

Q. The BCCI could have insisted that they step down.
A. It is for the BCCI to enforce the code of conduct they have for players.

Q. Is the BCCI hiding something from the Government?
A. As sports minister, when I ask for something, the BCCI should respond. But they seem reluctant to discuss cricket with me. Since April 27, the day I met officials and players, nobody from the board has come forward. This is no small matter. The entire nation is talking cricket.

Q. So is the BCCI involved in a cover-up?
A. They have told me that they will give me a report by July 26. As of now, we don't want to interfere with cricketing matters.

Q. But what if they don't?
A. If we don't get anything by July 27, we will see what action can be taken. They must tell us how they deal with issues like the players' code of conduct, how they spend their enormous funds, how they intend to clean up the game. They should be transparent and keep the Government better informed. After all, they are answerable to millions of cricket fans in the country.

Q. Do you think any of the current players are involved in the scam?
A. My information is that five to six players are involved (in match-fixing). The number could be even more.

Q. Do you think the CBI will be able to unearth the names?
A. I am more than confident.

Q. But charges framed by the CBI may not hold good in a court of law?
A. We are not looking at it from the judicial viewpoint alone. Once the names are out, once our heroes tumble, the public will decide whether they should play for India or not. A public sentence can be worse than jail.

Q. Do you expect corruption at the game's administrative level to be exposed as well?
A. The CBI's mandate is clear. From questionable television contracts to lack of transparency in the BCCI to match-fixing, they are being examined.

Q. But your colleague Law Minister Ram Jethmalani feels nothing will come out of the inquiry.
A. That is his opinion, not mine. I have full confidence in the CBI.

Q. But why can't investigations be more open? Why this secrecy?
A. That's the way the CBI works.

Q. Do you expect Indian cricketers to confess like Hansie Cronje did in South Africa?
A. I had hopes that they would. In fact, I still hope. It will only be for the good of the game. But so far, every cricketer questioned by the CBI has denied any role in match-fixing.

Q. Indian cricket is in the hands of retired bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen. You think it should change?
A. Professional cricketers in administration will be for the good of the game in the country.

Q. There are charges of financial irregularities, diversion and misutilisation of funds. Will the Government appoint independent auditors to examine the BCCI's accounts?
A. Let the CBI give its report. We will take strong action. That much I promise the nation.

Q. You talked about granting amnesty to players who help in the investigations.
A. What I suggested was that a lenient view be taken. That includes granting amnesty.

Q. Are the people in administration as responsible as the players for the rot in the system?
A. There are reasons to believe so, but I won't comment until the investigations are complete.

Q. Do you have any clear agenda for the future of the game in India?
A. I do. I expect corrupt and inefficient elements to withdraw voluntarily from the game. If they don't, the government will ensure that they do.

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