CBI report on match-fixing tabled in Lok Sabha

The CBI report on betting and match-fixing in cricket, which detailed the worst-ever scandal in the game's history, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The 164-page report, which was submitted to the then Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on September 30 last year, had named five Indian crickters including former captain Mohammad Azharuddin for their alleged involvement in match-fixing practices.

The report, which was completed in six months after the CBI registered a preliminary inquiry on May 4 at the request of the Sports Ministry, also named nine foreign players of having either allegedly taken money from the bookies or shown interest in match-fixing practices.

Acting on the report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had banned Azharuddin and former Test cricketer Ajay Sharma for life and imposed five-year bans on Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar. All four denied the charges and Azharuddin and Jadeja have challenged the decision in separate petitions in court.

However, former wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia, who was also named in the report, was let off by the BCCI following an internal inquiry by its Anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan.

The report also highlighted the security risk involved due to matchfixing and claimed that several underworld people were involved in the practice.

The report won laurels for the CBI at various international cricketing fora and several countries initiated inquiries based on the information contained in the report.