Interim report not to be made public till November

After weeks of slumber, match-fixing has come back to life with news flow from across two continents - Asia and Africa. Allegations, views and accusations have all made their way back into the headlines with a vengeance. The men in the news this week have been Lord MacLaurin, SS Dhindsa, Wasim Akram and Hansie Cronje.

The much awaited interim report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be handed over to Dhindsa, the Indian Sports Minister, sometime this week but will be made public only next month. Dhindsa said "The Indian Government's report into match-fixing in cricket has been finalised, but it is unlikely to be made public for at least another month." He added that the report will first be unveiled in Parliament, which is scheduled to convene for its winter session on November 20.

"Parliament witnessed an uproar over the match-fixing issue, hence the report would also be tabled there," the Sports Minister said and added that the Government will decide the future course of action based on the report only after going through the report.

In a related development, the chief prosecutor of the King Commission Shamila Batohi has asked the Indian authorities to hand over the tapes which contains conversations between Hansie Cronje and a bookmaker. In an interview published in the Sunday Tribune in Johannesburg, she has also threatened to take legal action if she does not get the tapes.

Batohi has said she visited India recently to secure the tapes but she was given only authenticated transcripts of the conversations between Cronje and the bookmaker. "I have been handed part of the transcripts which have been authenticated. But if we are going to get full cooperation from the Indians, then they must hand over all portions of the tapes relevant to the inquiry. Otherwise we will have to seek a court order to secure them," she was quoted as saying in the interview. The King Commission is expected to resume its investigation early next month.

In the meantime, former South African captain Hansie Cronje has announced through his lawyer that he will challenge the life ban imposed on him and has demanded that he should be allowed to be a columnist or a commentator. Cronje's lawyer Leslie Sackstein made a demand on behalf of Cronje asking the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) to lift the ban or face them in the court.

Sackstein said "We cannot accept that Cronje can lose out as a cricket commentator in newspaper columns or television. How can they suggest that people cannot have freedom of speech? The UCBSA can deny him entry into grounds where they have control but they certainly cannot prevent him from working as a presenter in a studio. I wrote to them and said we thought the resolution to ban him had been taken unlawfully and have asked them to withdraw it, otherwise we would have to consider appropriate action." Sackstein added that "We have invited them to tell the ICC that this is our view and that the ICC must be under no misconception about our accepting the validity of the resolution."

Meanwhile in Kenya, in the International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting is analysing the progress made in the match-fixing issues in India, Pakistan and South Africa. AFP quotes that the ICC code of conduct commission with Lord Hugh Griffiths as chairman may call for harsher measures against Pakistani and South African players.

In Pakistan, former captain Wasim Akram lashed out at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Lord MacLaurin for his comments that six Pakistani players should be banned from the upcoming Test series. Akram said the calls for his ban over match-fixing allegations were attempts by the visitors to distract the home side before an important series against England which has been resumed after a gap of 13 years. He said "I strongly condemn that and all such calls are unnecessary and negative tactics before the all-important Test series against England. These people are trying to distract us."

With a possible inquiry by the ICC's code of conduct commission, followed by the King Commission set to resume sittings in November and the interim report by the CBI round the corner there is much more to come. Therefore it can be presumed that the match fixing scandal which wasn't making news for the last few weeks due to events on the field at Nairobi will again make the headlines.