How the match-fixing drama unfolded - Part 9

The BCCI chief AC Muthiah says that the CBI's interim report has "good number of inaccuracies" in its report on match-fixing. In a statement on Thursday, Muthiah said "The working committee or the special general body of the board will discuss each and every point in the report that reflects on the working of the board and even think of circulating board's observations to parliamentarians and make it public."

On the five players named in the report, Muthiah said "Madhavan would hold an internal inquiry with the players individually. The board chief maintained that the guilty would not be allowed to go scotfree."

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is contemplating a possibility of filing cases against players alleged to have received payments in foreign currency. Meanwhile, the CBI sources have said the agency has sent its report on betting and match-fixing had been sent to the directorate by the home ministry for necessary action.

The International Cricket Commission has sought the help of former South African captain Hansie Cronje to weed out corruption from the game. In a statement, Cronje's lawyer Leslie Sackstein confirming that Cronje had met two members of the ICC anti-corruption unit said Cronje spoke to them voluntarily to help them formulate recommendations which would help prevent young cricketers becoming involved in irregularities."

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell said that the game's administrators have escaped from the mud slinging and they should be made more accountable. In his column in a weekly magazine, Chappell has wrote "The most unfair thing in this whole sordid affair is that the administrators, despite their ineptitude, continue to escape the mud-slinging," reports AFP. He added that "There is ample evidence that some cricket officials and ICC administrators have known from at least as far back as 1994 that there was something fishy going on and it wasn't the smell coming from the seafood market."

Come out strongly on the Australian Cricket Board's attempt to coverup in the Mark Waugh-Shane Warne episode, Chappell said "The Australian Cricket Board engaged in a cover-up operation from the outset and this continued for four years until they were caught redhanded." Even when the cover-up was exposed, the ACB still didn't insist on a full and frank disclosure and the players weren't subjected to a question-and-answer session with the media."

He further sates that "If the CBI further embarrasses the ACB it will be hard to have any sympathy because while the ACB, through its appointed selectors, may omit players who continue to make the same mistakes, the officials aren't subject to the same scrutiny."

Australian team coach John Buchanan on Thursday asked the game's authorities to speed up the match-fixing inquiry. Buchanan said "Myself and a lot of other people have talked with Mark, but it almost doesn't matter how many words you say it's still the individual who has to wake every morning faced with more conjecture."

The new Union Sports Minister on Wednesday expressed her deep concern over the match-fixing scandal. She says that corruption had to be weeded out of the game of cricket. Bharti said "Match-fixing is like corruption in any place and has to be weeded out of the game."

Talking to the media in New Delhi, Bharti said "Beyond this I will not make any comment on the issue, which has been making headlines across the world," adding she has to talk to officials in her ministry to get a better picture of the steps being taken in formulating the government's response.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the five players to appear before the anti-corruption Commissioner K Madhavan on November 12. BCCI sources said that the five players, Mohd. Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja, Ajay Sharma and Nayan Mongia, along with former Indian physio, Ali Irani will appear before Madhavan in Chennai, quotes PTI.

Commenting on the CBI report, Madhavan said "the report is reasonably good." He added that "I will submit my report to BCCI latest by November 16 on the factual and legal aspects in relation to the CBI report." Madhavan expects to submit his report to the BCCI's disciplinary committee by November 16. In turn the BCCI will hand over its findings to the Government on November 18.

Indian interim coach Anshuman Gaekwad has come down heavily on former Indian captains Azharuddin and Jadeja. Gaekwad said it hurts him to know that Azharuddin and Jadeja had betrayed the country. Talking in Calcutta on Tuesday, Gaekwad said "Azharuddin and Jadeja betrayed the fine game of cricket itself and cheated the whole country. They also betrayed the team. I'm indeed ashamed of them."

The groundsman Ram Adhar Chowdury is suspended by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). A showcause notice has also been issued to Chowdury asking him why his services should not be terminated. DDCA secretary Sunil Dev said "We are not happy doing this, but we have suspended Ram Adhar for 15 days and asked him to explain his conduct. He will definitely not be involved in preparing the wicket for the first Test against Zimbabwe here from November 18."

In Pakistan, England captain Naseer Hussain said it was a tough week for the team especially after former England captain Alec Stewart was named by the CBI. Hussain said "Cricket is now in front of everyone's mind. Stewart's story made it a tough week for us." He added "Stewart seems okay and had a nice trip to the Khyber Pass yesterday. It was a tough week for him."

The Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) Joint Director RN Sawani, talking to PTI in New Delhi on Monday said "We will not allow this matter to rest and whenever the agency would get fresh leads, it will probe it." He added that some cases have been referred to the Income Tax department for it to furnish details of the assets possessed by cricket players."

The Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) Joint Director RN Sawani, talking to PTI in New Delhi on Monday said "We will not allow this matter to rest and whenever the agency would get fresh leads, it will probe it." He added that some cases have been referred to the Income Tax department for it to furnish details of the assets possessed by cricket players."

A CBI spokesman categorically denied that the agency had beaten up groundsman Ram Adhar alias 'Chowdury' to force a confession that he took Rs.50,000 as bribe to prepare a 'tailormade' pitch for a Test match between India and Australia in 1996. The spokesman said "at no point of time did the sleuths of the special crime branch adopt any third degree method or even beat the groundsman for a confession." The spokesman also said that Ajay Sharma and bookie Mukesh Gupta had named him as the person who was paid Rs 50,000 for the 'tailormade' pitch.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) chief Ali Bacher has commended the CBI on their thorough job in the probe. Speaking to the Afrikaans language weekly in Johannesburg, Bacher said he hoped that the "pains of cricket are now over" after the release of the CBI's report.

The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah said he did not favour the BCCI's decision. Talking to reporters in Jammu on Monday, Abdullah said "unless a cricketer is proved guilty it is wrong to impose a ban on playing cricket." Asked whether the ban on Jadeja has affected the state side, Abdullah said "we should not have obstructed our players without proving charges conclusively."

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board appointed a one-man commission of inquiry to probe the charges of match-fixing against Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva. BCCSL President Thilanga Sumathipala asked Desmond Fernando, a member of the ICC's Code of Conduct Committee, to probe the charges and report back within 30 days. He is also a wellknown lawyer and human rights activist. Sumathipala also said that he has been asked to investigate whether any prima facie evidence existed for irregularities committed by the two during the last ten years. The two players have figured in the interim report of the CBI.

Income Tax department sources said the appraisal reports of individual cricketers are expected to be ready by the end of this month but will not be made public. They will be sent for assessment in phases as soon as they are ready. The sources added that "The CBI will have to wait for the appraisal reports on the two players. In any case the reports may not be taken as a ground for prosecution as these could not be treated as hard evidence beyond reasonable doubt."

Indian revenue officials in New Delhi will soon ask the five national players charged with match fixing to pay up huge taxes on their hidden wealth, Income Tax officials say in New Delhi. The IT department say they will soon proceed against the five - Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Ajay Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar. An official says similar action will be taken against bookmakers who along with players and officials of the BCCI were raided by IT officials in a nationwide crackdown in July.

Former Indian wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia expresses dismay over having been charged with match fixing in the CBI report saying he was not even a member of the Indian team for the two matches stated to have been fixed in the report. He tells a news agency in his home town in Baroda that Md Azharuddin's statement to the CBI that Ajay Jadeja and Mongia helped him to fix matches is totally false.

Tainted cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, who attempted to portray the picture of a man on a mission to cleanse the game is held responsible by the CBI for introducing seven foreign cricketers to the global betting syndicate.

Ajay Sharma, one of the five players banned by the BCCI, says he has not done anything wrong and he is innocent. ``I am a middle class man working for a living. I can't even dream of doing such things,'' he says in New Delhi.

About 300 activists of the Shiv Sena stage a protest in front of Md Azharuddin's father in law's residence in a Mumbai suburb protesting the former Indian captain's role in the match fixing scandal.

Strongly refuting the claim of Ajay Jadeja that the CBI report is false and concocted, the agency maintains that the report is based on evidence in its possession.

Protesters storm a media club in New Delhi and pelt rotten eggs at Ajay Jadeja who along with four other national cricketers has been accused of match fixing. Jadeja was holding a press conference at the Women's Press Corps to refute charges of match fixing, Maintaining that he is not guilty of match fixing, Jadeja says that Azharuddin's claim that the Pepsi Cup match between India and Pakistan was fixed ``and that Nayan Mongia and I were involved with him. However the absurdity of the allegations against me can be gauged by the fact that I was the top scorer in the match.'' In a statement, he says the verdict that has been passed against him in the report is ``unfair and premises on evidence that is false and concocted. At no time in my career have I been involved with match fixing as defined in the CBI report. At no time have I ever accepted money or any other form of consideration for under performing in a cricket match.'' Meanwhile activists belonging to the Shiv Sena party scream slogans against the five tainted players and disrupt Jadeja's news conference. ``Hang the five traitors'' they scream as Jadeja is escorted to a secure room at the press club.

The Indian government will consider taking back the Arjuna awards given to tainted cricketers after going through the response of the BCCI to the CBI report on match fixing, Sports Minister SS Dhindsa says after a meeting with BCCI president AC Muthiah. ``We will consider taking back the Arjuna awards only after the BCCI gives us its detailed response to the role of the players mentioned in the CBI report after conducting an internal inquiry,'' Dhindsa tells reporters in New Delhi. The players who have been named in the match fixing report and have received Arjuna awards are Md Azharuddin in 1986, Manoj Prabhakar in 1993, Ajay Jadeja in 1997 and Nayan Mongia in 1998. Dhindsa says that Muthiah has assured him that the BCCI would submit its response to the Sports Ministry on each and every aspect of the report including its adverse remarks against the Board. He also expresses happiness at the prompt action taken by the BCCI in suspending the players named in the CBI report from playing any domestic or international tournaments conducted by the BCCI or its affiliates. Dhindsa says Muthiah told him that from now onwards, every international match would be closely watched by Vigilance Commissioners from the two countries playing the match to curb the menace of match fixing. ``Besides this, Muthiah told me that the ICC will be convening a special meeting of the Vigilance Commissioners of the representative boards some time in December this year,'' says Dhindsa.

Australian captain Steve Waugh fears his brother Mark will reach a mental breaking point because of the accusations of an Indian bookmaker. ``It comes to a stage when it all gets a bit too much. I don't think its reached that stage yet because he is still playing well,'' Steve Waugh says in Sydney. ``But if it continues it is obviously not going to be easy. It is a difficult time but he will have a lot of support and he will come through this.'' Even though Mark Waugh has denied the allegation, Steve Waugh says it is impossible for his brother to ignore the issue. ``You can't just pretend it is not happening we certainly talked about,'' he says. ``He needs to get proper advice from people he trusts. I feel very sorry for him at the moment.'' Mark Waugh on his part says he looks forward to having the matter behind him. ``It would be nice to bury it and get on with playing cricket. It's been a long saga and I am confident it will be buried shortly and we can get on with the game.''

The chairman of the ECB Lord MacLaurin says that Alec Stewart would have been suspended from England's tour of Pakistan had he not cooperated with investigations into alleged corruption. The former England captain has been named in the CBI report into corruption in cricket but MacLaurin says that given Sewart's assistance with the ECB's inquiries, he sees no reason to suspend him. ``If Stewart had not co-operated with us fully when we had a very long conference call with him, my board and I would have suspended him,'' MacLaurin tells BBC Radio. ``As soon as we contacted Alec, he made his declarations to us quite clearly and therefore we had no reason at all to ask him to go home. If there is any suspicion against any of our England players and they fail to come and talk to me or any of my colleagues about it, they will be suspended.'' MacLaurin's reaction comes after he is accused of hypocrisy after he was earlier reported to have said that a number of Pakistan players suspected of taking payments should be suspended. But he now insists that his comments had been misinterpreted saying he only meant players who refused to co-operate with any official inquiry and regretted his words may have damaged relations between England and Pakistan.

Former Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, reacting angrily to the ban on him, alleging that the CBI report on match fixing was one sided and the BCCI succumbed to it. He also charges that the CBI is trying to protect somebody.'' Prabhakar says he wants to know what happened to the report he gave the CBI. ``What they have mentioned is not my full report. The CBI wanted to take only the negative parts of his report to show that Manoj Prabhakar is the main culprit.

Nayan Mongia says he is shocked to hear about the ban as he is not involved in the controversy in any way. ``I am a god fearing man and I would not even think of doing anything like that (match fixing). The ban has come as a shock to me as I am innocent and only time will prove it. The media and the board should help people like us as I have put in hundred percent efforts whenever I have played for my country or my teams. I have nothing to fear as my conscience says that I am clean. If I were to be involved in the controversy then I would not have been playing for my team but would have been hiding from the public.

Former Sri Lankan captain Aravinda de Silva says he was approached by bookmakers with offers to fix matches but has denied accepting bribes, according to officials in Colombo. One official says that de Silva has gone on two local TV stations to personally deny the allegations.

The ICC anti-corruption chief Sir Paul Condon arrives in New Delhi to probe into allegations of former England captain Alec Stewart's role in the match fixing scandal. Talking to me reporters, BCCI president AC Muthiah says the British detective is in touch with the Indian board officials, including the BCCI commissioner K Madhavan, who has been entrusted with the task of conducting an internal inquiry after the CBI findings. Muthiah also says investigating officers of all the cricket playing countries will meet in London in December to study how to approach and curb such problems.

The BCCI bans five cricketers named in the CBI report on match fixing pending the completion of their own enquiries. The five - Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma and Nayan Mongia - will not be allowed to play in any international or domestic match until further notice, BCCI president AC Muthiah tells reporters in New Delhi. ``I have sent out letters to all concerned not to pick these players,'' BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele says. The BCCI's own internal enquiry on the CBI report will be conducted by former CBI director K Madhavan who was recently appointed the BCCI's anti corruption commissioner.

Only something `miraculous' would persuade the UCBSA to allow former captain Hansie Cronje back into the game, board president Percy Sonn says. The board officially banned Cronje earlier in the week but hinted that it might overturn the ruling at some point in the future if he repented. But this was unlikely, Sonn tells a private TV station. ``Realistically speaking, I don't think that Hansie can come back to play or coach next week or the week after that or next year or the year after that unless something miraculous happens,'' Sonn says. The TV station reports that Cronje's lawyers are going ahead with legal action against the UCBSA on the grounds that the ban was unlawful.

Sri Lankan cricket authorities express dismay over allegations that the country's World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva accepted bribes to fix matches. Bookmaker Mukesh Gupta had claimed in a CBI report in India that the two cricketers helped him fix an Indian victory in the Lucknow Test in 1994 and that de Silva was paid 15,000 dollars. ``Both players are now seeking legal advice and a statement will be issued later. The allegations coming from a questionable character lack credibility,'' says a Sri Lankan Board official.

England team officials remain silent after former captain Alec Stewart is named in India's potentially explosive match fixing report. The CBI report claims that bookmaker Mukesh Gupta paid Stewart 5,000 pounds for pitch, weather and team information. ``We are in constant touch with the England and Wales Cricket Board in London and Stewart or any other official will not make any comment until the report is made public,'' team spokesman Andrew Walpole says in Rawalpindi.

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev, cleared by the CBI inquiry into match fixing charges, blames the media for ruining his reputation. ``The media refused to believe me when I said I was innocent,'' an angry Kapil tells a news agency in New Delhi. ``They first tear my clothes off and now offer me new ones to cover myself. When I was accused of match fixing, the papers splashed it on the front pages. But now that my name is cleared, it is buried somewhere at the back. I am not interested in what the report says. It can't erase the pain and anguish I went through those days,'' he says.

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe strongly denies he is linked to match fixing in India. ``I am shattered that my name is mentioned when you don't know what it's for,'' says Crowe. ``I will be more than interested to see what this report says. The only incident I have ever had is with a so called journalist in 1992. That was this guy Gupta who did a couple of articles with me over the phone and then revealed he was a bookie at which time I told him to leave me alone. That was about the only contact I ever had with that part of the world and the first I have heard of it since, really. I have never had any contact with these dudes (bookmakers).'' New Zealand Cricket chief executive Chris Doig says he is unaware of the contents of the report and would make no comment until he knew the full details.

Allegations that Australian cricket players may have been implicated in match fixing in India are strongly denied. The CBI had not investigated any non Indian players but bookies questioned by the probe had named some foreign players. Former Australian batsman Dean Jones, named in the report had earlier revealed he was once approached by a bookmaker but refused to have anything to do with him. ``I am obviously surprised about the latest developments. In what way has my name been brought up,'' Jones says in a ABC radio interview. ``All my books are open and anyone can go through my place.''

Former England captain Alec Stewart denies he ever received money from an Indian bookmaker for providing information related to a cricket match. ``Stewart has categorically denied he has ever taken money from Mukesh Gupta or anyone else for providing information related to a cricket match. In fact, he denies ever knowingly met Mr Gupta,'' the management of the touring England team in Pakistan says in a press statement. ``Stewart will not be suspended from playing cricket for England and will remain with the team in Pakistan,'' the statement says.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Gen. Tauqir Zia says that England must take seriously the CBI report into alleged match fixing. The report names five Indian and nine foreign players including England's former captain Alec Stewart as well as Pakistan's Asif Iqbal and Salim Malik. ``I think that had the ECB taken Chris Lewis' allegations against England players seriously, we would have known this much earlier,'' Zia tells a news agency in Karachi. ``I am shocked that so many foreign players are named in the report. Now it is up to the ECB and others to reach the truth,'' he says. In a dig at the ECB he says, ``They (ECB) did not realise that if they throw stones at any country, the same thing may come back on them.''

South African cricket boss Ali Bacher says the CBI report from India into match fixing has come as no surprise. He also says that the report vindicates much of his testimony before the King Commission of inquiry. ``It neither surprises me nor pleases me to hear the information contained in the CBI report. Many of my concerns expressed during my testimony have now been confirmed,'' says Bacher in a statement. ``While it is unpleasant, we need to see these developments in a positive light as well. Involvement in this malpractice must be unearthed so that cricket can go forward with confidence,'' he says.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board asks its Indian counterpart to help probe allegations that World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva were involved in match fixing. It also asks for copies of the CBI report which probed corruption in cricket. ``The BCCSL requires to obtain immediately a copy of the 162-page report and relevant authenticated transcripts of evidence,'' says Sri Lanka's cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala in a letter to Indian Cricket Board president AC Muthiah. ``The two cricketers are highly respected by the Sri Lankan public and the BCCSL is quite concerned to have this matter expeditiously and correctly examined,'' says Sumathiipala. Ranatunga, who retired from international cricket in August, says he had never had any dealings with bookmakers nor was he ever offered money to throw matches. ``Had any offer of a bribe been made to me at any time, I would have promptly reported the matter to the appropriate authorities,'' Ranatunga says in a statement issued in Colombo. ``The references to me are entirely false,'' he says.

Australian team coach John Buchanan says the Australian Cricket Board will investigate the latest match fixing developments if there was sufficient evidence. ``The board has its own process in place and if there is any evidence of any misdoing by any player they will put it through their system,'' he says in Brisbane. ``But there is no substantiated evidence at this stage to suggest what's been stated is true.'' Buchanan says the allegations had `criminalised' players and the sooner it was all cleared up, the better it would be for the game and the players.

BCCI president AC Muthiah says players found guilty of match fixing could face a life ban. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he says the players would be handed out punishments according to the BCCI code of conduct and the seriousness of their offence. ``Life ban is a strong possibility as the BCCI code has a clause which permits us to ban a player for life,'' he adds. Muthiah also does not take kindly to the CBI remark that the BCCI was aware of match fixing by the players. The CBI report alleged that although there was no direct evidence to suggest the involvement of any board members in match fixing, their resolute indifference does give rise to suspicion that there was perhaps more than meets the eye. ``I strongly protest the CBI remark that the BCCI was aware of such things,'' Muthiah adds.

Former Indian captain Md Azharuddin must have been paid around Rs 90 lakh by one bookie to fix matches according to a statement made before the CBI during its investigations into betting and match fixing. Bookie Mukesh Kumar Gupta alias MK alies John told the CBI that former Test cricketer Ajay Sharma had introduced him to Azharuddin at the Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi in 1995. Sharma was paid Rs five lakh for arranging this meeting. In his statement to the CBI, Gupta claims Azharuddin was paid a sum of Rs 50 lakh as an advance with the arrangement that the initial amount would be adjusted against the matches he would `fix.'

Star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar told the CBI that during his tenure as captain, he felt that Md Azhardudin was not putting in 100 percent effort and he suspected that his predecessor was involved with some bookies. He told this to investigators during his examination in Mumbai when asked if he suspected the involvement of any Indian player in match fixing.

Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa says that he has summoned the BCCI president AC Muthiah to meet him in New Delhi on November 3 to discuss the fall out of the CBI report on match fixing. He says the future course of action would depend on the advice of the Ministries of Home and Law. ``I have sought the view of the two ministries and will initiate action only after I get their views,'' he says. The Minister does not commit himself on the nature of action against the indicted players. ``I have always maintained that the guilty must be punished and the innocent must not be slandered. We will protect the innocent sportsmen,'' he says.

Rajghat, the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, was the venue for bribing a groundsman to prepare a tailor made pitch according to the instructions of a bookie for a Test match between India and Australia in 1996, the CBI says in its probe report. Ram Adhar, working as a groundsman at the Ferozeshah Kotla was contacted by former Indian cricketer Ajay Sharma a few days before the match and was told to meet him at Rajghat. Adhar, in his testimony to the CBI says he met Sharma and another person on the appointed day where he was paid Rs 50,000 by Sharma to prepare the pitch in such a way that it was result oriented. Accordingly he had prepared the pitch and India won the Test match in just three and a half days.

Several foreign players have been named by bookmaker MK Gupta in the CBI report in India. He says Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva fixed the Lucknow Test in 1994 between India and Sri Lanka and alleges that he paid de Silva 15,000 dollars. He says he paid 20,000 dollars to former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe to get information about the pitch, team and weather whenever New Zealand played. But he admits that Crowe refused to fix any match. The bookmaker also says he offered 40,000 dollars to former Australian batsman Dean Jones to provide information on the Australians' strategy, morale, pitch, weather etc whenever they played. Jones refuses the offer, admits Gupta who adds he also paid 20,000 dollars to Australian Mark Waugh for similar information. Gupta also states that he paid 5,000 pounds to former England captain Alec Stewart in exchange for information. Stewart however refused to fix any matches for him, he admits. Gupta also says he paid 40,000 dollars to former West Indian captain Brian Lara to underform in two one dayers when West Indies toured India in 1994. He also says he paid 40,000 dollars to former South African captain Hansie Cronje on the third day of the Kanpur Test in 1996 to ensure that South Africa lost and also as an `investment for future.' He also says that former Pakistan captain Salim Malik was introduced to him by Manoj Prabhakar at New Delhi before a match between Wills Cup of Pakistan and Wills Cup winners of India. A sum of Rs eight lakhs was paid to Malik to fix the match.

The CBI probe in India claims that a mysterious Indian bookmaker `John' paid Australian Test stars Mark Waugh and Shane Warne for providing information and that he is the same man who bribed former South African captain Hansie Cronje. The report claims bookmaker Mukesh Gupta had admitted to posing as `John' when he approached Waugh and Warne in Sri Lanka in 1994. The CBI says that Gupta, a Delhi based jeweller, had told their investigators that he had paid 20,000 dollars to Waugh for weather, team and pitch information. The report however does not say how much Warne was paid.

The most damning indictment in the CBI report is of former captain Md Azharuddin who the report says confessed to fixing games with the help of colleagues Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia. The report says that Azharuddin in his statement has accepted receiving money from MK Gupta to fix some matches. But he says he did only two matches for them - a Titan Cup match in 1996 at Rajkot and some match in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in 1997. The report goes on to say that the admission of Azhar that he did only two matches for Gupta during this period appears a dilution of the actual facts in the context of the amount of money he had received from MK. Jadeja, the report says, provided ``assessment of matches'' and passed on information to another Indian bookmaker Uttamchand. Gupta claimed Jadeja had ``offered his services'' for fixing matches and received money from him. The report says that Manoj Prabhakar who first blew the whistle on the scandal back in 1997 was very close to bookmakers and punters during his playing days and after retirement. There was also evidence, the report says, of Prabhakar passing on information and introducing foreign players to Gupta and other bookmakers. The CBI also says it has found no concrete evidence against former captain and coach Kapil Dev who was accused by Prabhakar of offering him 25,000 dollars to underperform during a one day match against Pakistan in Sri Lanka in 1994.

Police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh say that they have arrested 13 suspected bookmakers involved in a cricket gambling racket. ``We are expecting more arrests,'' senior superintendent of Police Arun Kumar tells reporters while giving details of the seven hour sting operation at the weekend. He says the arrests were made by intercepting the calls made by the suspects from their mobile phones. Following the arrest of the 13 men, state police contacted their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai where Kumar says all the operations take place. According to police, the bookies place their bets on individual cricketers or the entire team.

The CBI in its report raises suspicions over the role of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It says that the BCCI had shown resolute indifference to probe even matches, results of which were patently questionable. ``Although there is no concrete evidence to suggest the direct involvement of members of the BCCI, their resolute indifference does give rise to suspicions.''

The Board of Control for Cricket in India says action would be taken against players and officials named in the CBI report in accordance with the code of conduct adopted by the BCCI last month. Reacting to the report on match fixing, board president AC Muthiah says once the report is made public, the BCCI Vigilance Commissioner K Madhavan would give his opinion.

The King Commission in South Africa temporarily stalls its inquiry as it awaits a report from India. ``We are waiting for the Indian inquiry. Leaks so far from it look like it might be interesting for us,'' chief prosecutor Shamila Batohi says. ``We don't know how long we will have to wait for the report and we can just say we expect the hearings to resume by late January,'' she adds. Batohi says she has no knowledge of reports that the King Commission might be dissolved altogether.

In India, CBI officials submit the long awaited report into the match fixing scandal to Sports Minister SS Dhindsa. The report is expected to spell th the end of some illustrious careers in the game. The CBI took nearly five months to compile the report. Leaks to the media have suggested that the report names four or five well known Indian cricketers in connection with the match fixing allegations. Seven foreign players - a Pakistani, three Australians, two West Indians and one Englishman - are also believed to feature prominently in the document. Receiving the report, Dhindsa says the government would seek legal advice before finalising the next course of action. He also says that the report will be made public during the winter session of Parliament beginning November 20. Lawyers are divided over whether such match fixing activities constitute criminal action and the more likely outcome will be disciplinary action taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The BCCI has already said it will ban players found giuilty of match fixing for life.

The match-fixing report to be submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the Sports Minister is likely to name seven foreign players. CBI sources said the report will contain names of a Pakistani, three Australians, two West Indians and an Englishman in the report. The name of the players were not revealed. PTI quoting the source said a 'passing reference' had been made to the players in the report, based on the testimony of a number of bookmakers. Intelligence sources had earlier said that four Indian cricketers were likely to be named in the interim report.

The interim report which was to have been handed over to the Sports Minister SS Dhindsa has been postponed. A high-level meeting of CBI officials took place at their New Delhi headquarters took this decision today. The agency sources the submission of the report scheduled for Wednesday is deferred as CBI Director R K Raghavan, who returned here only last night, was going through the report quotes PTI.

Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa says the government would soon make public the CBI report on the match fixing scandal. Talking to a news agency in New Delhi, he says, ``after going through the report, the names would be made public as the betting episode has upset the whole nation.'' He says that the report could be made public in Parliament or it could also be before the session, in reference to the winter session of Parliament due to begin in the latter half of November. The CBI is scheduled to hand over the report into the scandal to Dhindsa on October 25.

Australian captain Steve Waugh says it is time for the accusers in the game's bribery scandal to put up or shut up. Waugh says he is tired of hearing constant match-fixing talk overshadowing the game he has played for more than 15 years at the highest level. In an obvious reference to the latest reports from India that three unnamed Australian players are said to be mentioned in the CBI report, Waugh says such talk is just "bloody hot air at the moment. It's all rumour and innuendo and hearsay, nothing is concrete. I think it is put up or shut up time and I think everyone has had enough of it." Waugh's comments are echoed by Test batsman Ricky Ponting. "The sooner it's all cleaned up and out of the papers, the better it will be for the game's sake," says Ponting. Waugh says it is frustrating to see baseless allegations continually popping up and overshadowing the on-field action. "Just when you think you've started to see some good cricket again, then we start talking about off-field stuff again," he says. "It's time to just get on with the cricket and when something comes up that is worthwhile then print it but until then these rumours just keep going around. It doesn't do any good to anyone, it hangs over everyone in the game and it is a slight on the game."

Sources close to the CBI say that the agency's report on match fixing will be submitted to the government on October 25 and it names five Indian players and a former cricket official. The report, which contains statements of several cricketers, administrators and bookies will be submitted to the Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa. Besides the Indian players and officials, the report also contains names of some foreign cricket players whom the bookies have named during the course of the investigation.

The Australian Cricket Board says it will ignore an unsubstantiated report in an Indian newspaper, linking unnamed Australian cricketers with the match-fixing scandal. The report, published in an Indian daily, claims the Australians are named in a leaked copy of the report compiled by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed says in Melbourne he would be taking no action unless something more substantial emerged. He says ICC's anti-corruption unit is carrying out its own investigations and he is happy to leave it there. "I have no reason to believe any serious allegations are made against Australian players," Speed says.

The match fixing scandal takes a new twist with claims that West Indian cricketers have been named in a report by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to London's Sunday Telegraph, there is a chapter in the probe on non-Indian players. This chapter is said to mention two senior West Indian players as well as three Australians. The references to the West Indians revolve around an extraordinary match during the 1996 World Cup when supposed no-hopers Kenya convincingly beat West Indies by 73 runs. Wisden describes the match as "one of the biggest upsets in cricket history". Kenya were dismissed for a low score of 166 before bowling out West Indies for just 93 in a mere 35.2 overs. It was reported that after the match there was a row in the West Indies dressing room after a senior West Indian player had been seen congratulating the Kenyans.

Indian Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa says he would urge the government to investigate the publication of a leaked top-secret report on match-fixing by national cricketers, reports from New Delhi say. Dhindsa tells a private television network late Saturday that he will ask Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani to probe the "leak" of the match-fixing report compiled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "The home ministry can ask CBI how the media got hold of the report," Dhindsa tells the TV network after two newspapers on Saturday said the federal agency had named four top players as key match-fixers in India. The 210-page CBI report is scheduled to be presented to the Sports Ministry on Tuesday or Wednesday and is likely to be unveiled in Parliament next month. Sports Ministry sources say Dhindsa is upset with Saturday's publication of what the newspapers claimed were parts of the CBI report. "Besides the minister being upset, there are a few red faces in the government over this leak," a highly-placed source says. The CBI, however, describes the media reports as "speculative."

Newspaper reports in India say that the CBI, probing corruption in cricket, has charged four players in the match fixing scandal. Two newspapers in almost identical reports say that the CBI has named Manoj Prabhakar, Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma in its match fixing report. The CBI report allegedly exonerates Kapil Dev, Nayan Mongia and Nikhil Chopra. CBI officials are not immediately available for their comments on the newspaper reports which allegedly came from the 210-page CBI document. The CBI findings are to be handed over shortly to Sports Minister SS Dhindsa before its presentation in Parliament next month. One newspaper report says that the CBI report has also pointed fingers at the BCCI officials. Former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya and BCCI treasurer Kishore Rungta were among the administrators questioned by the CBI during its six month probe. According to the reports, the matches allegedly fixed include India's fixtures against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.

The chief organiser of cricket in Sharjah dismisses allegations that the desert venue is a haven for match fixing. Abdul Rehman Bukhatir, who heads the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) defends his maligned organisation on the eve of the Sharjah three nation series starting on October 20. ``People have said Sharjah was involved in match fixing but the fact is that nothing has been established'' Bukhatir tells the Dubai based Gulf News. ``It is easy to say it all happens in Sharjah but all the incidents have actually come out of either South Africa, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand or England,'' he says. ``No one has come out to substantiate the allegations that match fixing happens in Sharjah.'' Refuting criticism by Indian officials that there is a pro Pakistani slant at Sharjah matches, Bukhatir says ``Pakistan is alleged to be the most fixable team but they have won over 90 percent of their matches here,'' he tells the newspaper.

An official of the Pakistan Cricket Board says that Pakistan can hold its head high over its response to match fixing allegations and is in no danger of being ostracised by the cricketing world. Yawar Saeed, the PCB director of operations says Pakistan has shown its determination to stamp out cheating and punish those involved. ``Pakistan cannot be cornered or isolated because we made public our match fixing inquiry and implemented penalties against the players,'' Saeed tells a news agency in Karachi on his return from the ICC Board meeting in Nairobi. He says no one should be in any doubt that ``Pakistan's stand is that corruption should be done away with. Pakistan has also formed a one man commission which assessed the assets of the players and they have been cleared. The King Commission inquiry in South Africa is still inconclusive and the inquiry in India has yet to be made public. Why should Pakistan be targetted? Now the ICC code of conduct commission has directed us to give Justice Qayyum's recommendations and penalties in point form because of certain ambiguities and we will submit it in a week.''

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly says he does not feel a declaration by players would help in curbing corrupt practices in the game, adding it was up to the cricketers themselves to restrain from any wrong-doings. "Honestly, I am not sure how filling up a declaration form is going to help. We have already signed it, but I am not sure...," Ganguly tells reporters in Sharjah. "It is the cricketers who have to be honest on their own. You might give ten declarations, like Hansie Cronje gave ten declarations before he owned up." Ganguly however, defends the ICC action saying it was trying its best to curb corruption. "They are doing the maximum they can do. But they can't keep police behind every cricketer. They can't stop every cricketer. That's why I think the lead must come from the cricketers themselves," he says.

Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa says the CBI will present the interim report on their probe into the match-fixing scandal in the next few days. He says he expects to receive the report later this week or early next week and will then seek legal opinion before deciding on action. "I'll read the report. I will also get it legally examined," he says, while speaking to a news agency in New Delhi. He adds that the report would be officially released during the winter session of Parliament in November.

The ICC asks the chairman of its Code of Conduct Commission Lord Hugh Griffiths to make recommendations whether five Pakistani cricketers including former captain Wasim Akram, who have been fined by a judicial inquiry for a variety of misdemeanours, should face stronger punishment. Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul Haq and Waqar Younis - all of whom are in the team for the three one-day internationals and three-Test home series against England starting later this month - have been fined by the one-man inquiry commission headed by Justice Qayyum in match-fixing allegations in Pakistan. Lord Griffiths, who in his interim report on corruption prevalent in the game said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) intends to act tough on the issue, is asked to seek further information before preparing a final report.

The code of conduct commission also reviews the South African report on Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams and confirms the penalties imposed, according to the ICC. The two were banned in August until the end of the year for their role in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. The ICC says the commission is waiting on a further report on the decision to ban former South African captain Cronje for life.

The chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board Lord Maclurian plays down his differences with the PCB over corruption in the game in that country, according to reports from London. "I am very pleased that England are back in Pakistan and there is no question of anyone being ineligible to play against us," Lord Maclurian is quoted as saying. I said in advance of the ICC meeting in Nairobi that anyone whose honesty in the past had been in doubt or who did not co-operate fully with the judicial inquiry in Pakistan should be suspended until their innocence was proved or otherwise. But we are only one voice in ten in the ICC and we had a very fair discussion of the whole issue. Things may have moved a bit slowly on bribery and corruption, but everyone from all the countries is unanimous about how we should deal with it," he says.

The ICC says that all international cricket players, umpires and officials will be required to declare whether they have ever been involved in match fixing. Players, umpires and officials will be asked to fill out a confidential questionnaire by November 30. The form asks five questions, including whether they have ever taken part in or been asked to take part in "any arrangement with any other person involved in the playing or administration of the game of cricket which might involve corruption in any form." The questionnaire also asks whether they have taken part in, or been approached about the passing on of team selection, weather and details of the toss to any person other than to the media; performing below par, or perverting the normal outcome of a match. Anyone answering yes to any of the five questions is obliged to provide full details to the head of the ICC's anticorruption unit, Sir Paul Condon. The form carries a declaration that a player or official will not be involved in the future in any corrupt conduct and will immediately inform the authorities of any approach. The declaration carries a warning that knowingly answering any of the five questions incorrectly leaves players and the others liable to disciplinary action, including "heavy penalties." The initiative is announced following a two-day meeting of the ICC in Nairobi.