Awards to be withdrawn if found guilty: Dhindsa

The Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Saturday threw a bombshell that any Indian cricketers found guilty of match fixing would be stripped of all the national honours and awards bestowed on them.

Speaking to the Press Trust of India in Ludhiana, Dhindsa said ``care would be taken that no player of any game in future dares to indulge in anything as humilating as match fixing.'' The Union Minister was also hopeful that by September the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) would complete their enquiry into the scandal and added that action against the players who are found guilty would be taken only after that.

The move comes in the wake of the Ludhiana Citizens Council's decision to withdraw the honour they bestowed on Kapil Dev after the latter became the highest wicket taker in Tests surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee's tally of 431 wickets. The Council president Agya Pal Singh, on Wednesday last, had said that the cash award worth 4.32 lakhs, which was collected through public donations, would be reclaimed. Singh also said that the money would now be used for charitable purposes and the Council might even move court if Kapil Dev failed to respond to their request.

Dhindsa also dwelled on the new sports policy that is to be introduced by the Union Government. He said that the policy would aim at the maintenance of the autonomous structure of various sports bodies but at the same time strive to make the federations accountable to the nation.