Match-fixers will be jailed if found guilty: Dhindsa

If the players don't hog the headlines in the match fixing case, the officials do. And if both are out of the headlines, then the ministers take over. On Saturday, the Indian Minister of Sports Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, through his strongly worded statement, must have sent shivers through the spine of those players involved in match-fixing.

Speaking at a Meet the Press programme in Chandigarh, Dhindsa warned that those players found guilty will be imprisoned. He said "The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing the match-fixing issue on a priority basis and will complete their task in a time-bound manner. Players found involved will be sent to jail so as to set an example for upcoming cricketers." He added "It is not the intention of the government to send anyone to jail, unless somebody is deeply involved in it directly or indirectly."

Maintaining his stand on leniency to those players who come forward and reveal all they know, Dhindsa said "The aim is to clean up the game and if any player comes forward and reveals all, a lenient view could be taken so that in future match-fixing does not take place."

Criticising the BCCI for its reluctance to speak to him on the issue and the related developments since April 27 (the day when the minister had his meeting with them), Dhindsa said "As sports minister, when I ask for something, the BCCI should respond. But they seem reluctant to discuss cricket with me. Since April 27, nobody from the board has come forward. This is no small matter. The whole nation is talking cricket."

Dhindsa emphasised that "the BCCI must tell the ministry by July 27 how they deal with issues like players' code of conduct, how they spend their enormous funds and how they intend to clean up the game. If we do not get anything by July 27, we will see what action can be taken."

Dhindsa reiterated his stand that tainted players and officials should step down. He said "After Hansie Cronje said on oath that he had been introduced by Azhar to a man who turned out to be a bookie, Azhar should have stepped down. An allegation on oath is serious."

On the scope of CBI's investigation, Dhindsa said "the mandate of CBI is to probe into all aspects of the controversy from questionable television contracts to lack of transparency in the BCCI to match-fixing.'' He exuded confidence that the investigating agency would be able to unearth the cricketers and persons involved in the scandal."

Dhindsa said he was not looking at the case from the judicial point of view and echoed similar sentiments to that of the Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani saying a public sentence can be worse than jail. Dhindsa said "We are not looking at it from the judicial point of view. Once the names are out, once our heroes tumble, the public will decide whether they should play for India or not."

The timing of his comments coincided with his interview in the latest issue of 'India Today' where Dhindsa has put the worth of cricketers both junior and senior anywhere between 10-200 crores. Dhindsa is quoted in the magazine as saying "I have information that the junior most cricketers in the Indian team have assets worth Rs.10. crore. As for the seniors, the figure could go up to 200 crores." On the involvement of players, the minister said ``though five to six players are involved, the number could be more."

Not to be left out, the Indian Minister of State for Sports Syed Shanawaz Hussain categorically denied that the government was considering setting up an independent commission to probe the match fixing allegations. The Minister also dismissed suggestions of banning cricket matches before the CBI investigation is over. ``The CBI is doing a fine job and the chargesheet will come up in due course,'' he said while talking to reporters in Jaipur.

Meanwhile, Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting, who is in New Delhi to conduct a coaching clinic, seems to have learnt the knack of evading questions on match-fixing. When asked to comment on the episode, Ponting said "I stick to my earlier statement and I've nothing more to say on this. I'm here to popularise the game." He added "The ICC should take steps to clean up the whole mess at the earliest and right now I don't think the match-fixing issue has affected cricket's popularity in any way."