CBI report has evidence against four players

The interim report on the match-fixing scandal to be submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has 'circumstantial evidence' against four Indian cricketers in the match-fixing scandal. Sources close to the agency said that the agency is unlikely to seek their prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act as they are not public servants covered by it. The report is expected to be handed over to the Union Sports Minister SS Dhindsa sometime this week. Apart from the names, the report is likely to contain some suggestions to the Indian cricket board on how to prevent the scam from occurring again.

The sources said "the evidence in the possession of the CBI has already been scrutinised by the legal department of the agency. The prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act is unlikely as they are not public servants." The agency however refused to disclose the names of the players.

A senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in Nairobi on Sunday that four names could be released 'as soon as Monday' quotes PTI. He did not say whether the information about the names of the players will be disclosed by investigating agency or the BCCI. Sometime back, the CBI director had also hinted that some players would be named.

Meanwhile, the CBI is most likely to give a clean chit to cricketing icon Kapil Dev, who was alleged to have offered a bribe of Rs.25 lakhs to Manoj Prabhakar to throw away a match in Sri Lanka in 1994. The sources said that none of the persons named by Prabhakar in their statement had corroborated with his version. Even the clandestinely shot video tapes will not stand in the court of law as an evidence added the source.

The sources said that Prabhakar who had been asked to undergo a lie-detector test by the CBI has put forth several conditions in his reply to the agency. In order to prove the authenticity of the tapes, Prabhakar had urged the agency to gather voice samples of those people who have denied their statements made in the cassettes.

The sources said "the report was likely to suggest making mandatory a code for all players to declare all gifts received from abroad. It will also give instances of the matches that were fixed, pitches at the grounds were doctored and last minute changes were made in the team at the instances of bookies. The sources dismissed the reports that some names of some foreign players would be included in the report as mere hearsay.

Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Lord MacLaurin said that he will call for a ban on some Pakistan players including former captain Wasim Akram for their alleged role in match-fixing. ICC president Malcolm Gray had indicated last week that the ICC would postpone further action to let the first England Test tour of Pakistan for 13 years to go ahead in the interests of international relations. MacLaurin said "It's ridiculous. If someone is under suspicion he should be removed from the game until his case is heard and his innocence proven. If an England player were involved that's what would happen. I'll be taking it up with Malcolm Gray.''

In a related development, South African captain Shaun Pollock questioned the timing of the announcement of Hansie Cronje's ban from game. Pollock said "The timing was not perfect but we are playing so much cricket this summer that there probably wasn't a perfect time for it. Hopefully, we can concentrate on cricket now," while UCBSA managing director Ali Bacher clarified there was no option but to go ahead with the announcement. The ban came just before their crucial semifinal against India in the ICC KnockOut Trophy in Nairobi.