Condon for co-ordinated efforts to eradicate match-fixing

International Cricket Council's anti-corruption director Sir Paul Condon on Wednesday said in New Delhi it was the duty of all cricket playing nations to carry forward the investigations from where the Central Bureau of Investigation had left it.

"We will take forward the investigations from here and ensure co-ordinated efforts to remove the menace of betting and match-fixing in cricket," Condon told reporters on the concluding day of his visit to India.

Earlier in the day, Condon met Union Sports Minister Uma Bharti, who described the meeting as a purely "courtesy call".

Condon made it clear that after amassing "huge evidence" against some foreign players, the ICC would "further probe" into the role of these cricketers named by the CBI of either having received or offered money by the bookies.

"We have now concluded talks with key figures from the BCCI, CBI, Delhi Police and Indian government to gather information in areas where India's premier investigating agency has no jurisdiction," Condon said.

Besides Condon, the other members including Martin Hawkins and Bob Samanney (both from ICC), Desmond Fernando from Sri Lanka, Australia's Greg Melick and Tim Gresson (New Zealand), met the CBI officials headed by the Joint Director of CBI RN Sawani and reviewed the evidence against the foreign players.

Commending the CBI report, the ICC anti-corruption director said "the CBI report was a significant step forward in the fight against corruption in cricket and I congratulate the CBI on its thoroughness and professionalism."

Condon made it clear that the ICC would not leave any "stone unturned" in investigating these allegations. "But equally players should not be condemned without evidence being available. As a result, we have been working to establish whether this evidence can be uncovered."

Asked when the ICC would come out with some results in the scandal, Condon said "this is not a quick sprint but a marathon" and "all of us have been made very welcome in India and have been pleased by the constructive co-operation we have received from the authorities."

He said the ICC would be coming out with suggestions on how to stop this menace and in this connection a two-member ICC team had gone to South Africa and had interviewed sacked skipper Hansie Cronje.

Condon said, however, that in the present world where live matches and the internet was present, it would be difficult to completely stop the menace. "However, we will try our best," he added.

The 162-page CBI report on betting and matchfixing named ex-captains Alec Stewart (England), Brian Lara (West Indies), Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda D'Silva (Sri Lanka), Martin Crowe (New Zealand) and Asif Iqbal and Salim Malik (Pakistan). Apart from the former skippers, the names of two more Australian players Mark Waugh and Dean Jones also figured in the CBI report.