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New
Turn
 The
CBI's report has not revealed
the agency's hand completely. A document titled Payments/Gifts Received
by Tainted Players from Bookies/others, names two ex-cricketers-Rajesh
Chauhan and Narendra Hirwani - among those who accepted money for information.
According to the document which has still not been released, Hirwani accepted
Rs 15,000 and Chauhan received Rs 25,000 before the Indian tour to New
Zealand in 1989-90 in Indore from a bookie named Ramesh Goel-an associate
of Mukesh Gupta-for information. Chauhan denies the payments saying, "I
didn't play for India until 1993 and was not in the national picture at
all in 1989-90. I think Goel is a guy from Indore. I don't remember him
for sure." Hirwani was travelling and could not be contacted for
his comments on why his name figures in the CBI document.
Long
Reach
Match-fixing's
foreign hand
 No
parlours, no spiders, no flies. Only an impenetrable web of deceit spun
by a band of bookies who with a fistful of dollars brought the cricket
world's legends to their knees. The CBI match-fixing report named nine
international players, including six captains, who received money from
a Delhi-based Mukesh Gupta for "information" about pitches,
weather and team strategies. The modus operandi was simple: get introduced
to the players, offer small amounts for harmless bits of "information"
and put a player on their payroll.
Once reeled
in, it was only a matter of time before the "services" demanded
of the cricketer changed from mere information to match manipulation as
indicated by the Cronje case. Denials have inevitably followed but there
is no denying that the bookies had the best of world cricket interested.
Mark Waugh's original confession to receiving money from a bookie is now
under doubt. Aravinda DeSilva was long suspect as his father is a bookie,
a legal occupation in Sri Lanka. In the West Indies, suspicion on Brian
Lara and an all rounder teammate had been doing the rounds before Gupta
spilled the beans.
Clean
Sweep
After
the cancer, the cure
1. Penalise,
Punish: Swift and severe action-life bans, erasure of career records,
withdrawal of national awards, heavy fines-against offenders will send
out a categorical message of zero tolerance.
2. Legislate,
Legalise: Over
and above the ICC's code of conduct, establish a sport-specific law with
regard to "underperformance" which also prohibits and punishes
dalliances of any kind with the betting industry.
3. Answer,
Account For: Professionalise the board by doing away with honorary
officialdom; contract Indian cricketers as income-tax paying "professionals"
who must declare all sources of income from the game.
4. Systemise,
Schedule: Centralise
the international calendar at the ICC instead of leaving schedules to
individual national boards. Reduce the number of one-day tournaments to
make every event worth winning for players and teams.
5. Educate,
Enlighten: Include
ethics and the story of 'Bookiegate' as part of juniors' cricket coaching
curriculum. Prepare young, upcoming players for the pressures and demands
that come with being high-profile, public figures.
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How
can Non-Performing Assets of companies be cleared? By recovering what
you can, writes INDIA TODAY Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in
