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Global scandal Azharuddin, Stewart, Lara, Waugh named in match-fixing report
Updated: Thursday November 02, 2000 12:45 AM
NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Former cricket captains of six countries were named in an Indian government match-fixing report released Wednesday that alleged top players across the world had routine contacts with bookmakers. The 162-page report by India's premier law enforcement agency was made public by Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. In many cases, however, it did not specify whether a cricketer was accused of receiving a bribe or had only been offered one and refused. Former England captain Alec Stewart, former West Indies captain Brian Lara, former South African captain Hansie Cronje, Australia's Mark Waugh, Pakistan's Salim Malik, and Sri Lanka's star batsman Arvinda D'Silva, were bunched in one paragraph, saying they had accepted, or been offered, bribes by Indian bookmaker M.K. Gupta. Gupta, other Indian bookmakers and some Indian players are the main sources for the allegations in the report, which contains an alleged confession by former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin that he fixed cricket matches with the help of teammates Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia for large sums of money. The report says former Indian cricketer Ajay Sharma received hundreds of thousands of rupees (tens of thousands of dollars) for introducing Azharuddin and the others to Gupta. The government probe, begun in April after police monitored mobile phone conversations Cronje held with bookies during South Africa's Indian tour, included tax department raids of the homes of top cricketers and cricketing officials. The government report lists players who the investigators allege were paid or offered money by Indian bookmakers to underperform or to provide information about matches. The inquiry was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of America's FBI. Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe and former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga and were among the players the CBI alleges were either offered money or were paid money by bookies. The report says former Pakistani cricket captain Asif Iqbal was "is close to" a Bombay bookmaker, Anil Steel, and received gifts from him for providing information on matches. The report paints a broad picture of easy access by bookmakers to the stars of what is known as "the gentleman's game." The report said that small-scale betting on cricket matches had taken place in India for many years, but became big business, with bookmakers making huge profits, after India won the World Cup in 1983. Live television broadcasts for the matches boosted the betting further, the report said, with the bookies making profitable use of computers and mobile telephones. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered the sports minister to make the report public, saying people had a right to know the truth about the fraud that has shaken the cricketing world and its millions of followers. It was not clear whether match-fixing can be prosecuted under Indian law, but New Delhi police have charged Cronje and three of his teammates with the crime of "cheating," on the grounds that their alleged actions would have deceived or defrauded the people who bought tickets to see the matches. The CBI alleges that Crowe of New Zealand was paid US$20,000 by Gupta for information about the pitch, weather and team strategy whenever New Zealand played. A similar sum was paid to Waugh of Australia, the CBI report says. The report says that Australian batsman Dean Jones had refused to accept an offered US$40,000 to provide such information to a bookmaker. Gupta told the CBI that he had paid US$40,000 to Lara, of the West Indies, to underperform in two one-day matches when his team toured India 1994. Cronje has admitted to accepting money to throw away the match in India this year. The report also alleges that Manoj Prabhakar, a former Indian all-rounder, introduced several foreign players to bookmakers and provided information to the bookies about test matches and one-day international matches. Prabhakar had accused former Indian captain Kapil Dev of attempting to bribe him with 2.5 million rupees (US$57,340) to throw a 1994 match against Pakistan. The CBI report however, said that there was no evidence to support Prabhakar's accusations against Dev. Dr. Ali Irani, the former physiotherapist of the Indian team, "acted as a conduit for receiving payments on behalf of Azharuddin from M.K. (Gupta) and associates," the report said. "I am innocent," Jadeja was quoted as saying. "If any charge is proven against me, I will respect the law as I am a law-abiding citizen."
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