M A I N   N E W S

3 Aussies ‘named’ in CBI report

SYDNEY, Oct 23 (PTI) — Ripples of the CBI’s match-fixing report, parts of which have appeared in Indian and British media, were felt here today with a top newspaper saying three Australian cricketers were also named in the report.

The Sunday Telegraph of London had yesterday reported that the 210-page CBI report had a section on foreign players that contained the names of two West Indian and three Australian players. The newspaper did not specify the context in which the Australians were mentioned, whether as witnesses or otherwise.

However, the Australian Cricket Board refused to comment on the issue. “We have not heard anything about this and until we have, we cannot comment,” an ACB spokesperson was quoted as saying.

NEW DELHI (TNS): The Central Bureau of Investigation may submit the report into match-fixing and betting-scandal to the Centre on Wednesday.

The report, prepared after questioning of several prominent cricketers, sports administrators and some bookies, would be submitted to the Union Sports Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, on October 25, official CBI sources said here today.

CBI sources said it would be up to the government to make the report public or not.

The government had stated that it would table the report in Parliament and the country would have to wait for the winter session to know the contents, which is several weeks away.

The report is expected to indict a few cricketers besides dwelling on the role played by several bookies.

Media reports indicate that the agency has pointed to the alleged involvement of cricketers Azharuddin, Ajay Sharma, Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar.

The CBI report, has reportedly given a clean chit to Haryana hurricane Kapil Dev, Nayan Mongia, Nikhil Chopra and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

If the agency indicts the cricketers in the scandal, the worst ever experienced in the gentleman’s game, their career could be in jeopardy as they could be banned for life and their records in the fields could be erased from the books.

Legal experts said it was unclear to what extent the agency could legally punish these cricketers. They could be proceeded against only for criminal breach of trust or at the most for cheating, for which a maximum punishment is Rs 5000.

The CBI had initiated the probe in the sensational case on May 2 on the Centre’s directive.