Match-fixing report likely by Wednesday

Onkar Singh in Delhi

Will the Central Bureau of Investigation spoil the Diwali celebrations of some leading Indian cricket players by releasing their names in the match-fixing report? This is the question being asked in sports circles in the capital.

While few are willing to stick their necks out because of the CBI's unpredictability, there are many who feel that the agency is in a mood to play spoilsport by releasing the report to the media.

"This is not true. We may hand over the report to Minister of Sports Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in the next few days; no decision has been taken regarding releasing names of players involved in match-fixing, officially," CBI spokesman S M Khan told rediff.com on Monday afternoon.

CBI joint director R N Sawani, who headed the investigation, returned to the capital in the morning from Geneva, where he had gone to attend an official meeting. "I have been told that there have been newspaper reports naming certain players for alleged involvement in match-fixing. When our report comes out, some who have been writing under their signatures may have to face court proceedings for defamation," said Sawani.

Has Kapil Dev been cleared?

"I will not say anything on that subject. You are free to interpret it the way you want. We have enough time to rewrite some portions of the report. On Tuesday, the director is back in Delhi and by evening we will take a decision when to hand over the report to the minister. Hopefully, it will be sometime on Wednesday," he said.

Would you not spoil the Diwali of some players?

"They have had enough Diwalis. The team is playing cricket in Sharjah. So where is the question of spoiling a player's Diwali? Others who are named will not be happy, I am sure," he added.

Reports had appeared in various newspapers and magazines that the CBI has indicted leading former cricketers for involvement in match-fixing. Though the reports were based on CBI sources, no one has accepted blame for the leak, particularly after Dhindsa threatened a Home Ministry probe.

The CBI report may contain pages devoted to the television rights scam, in which some leading administrators and owners of television outfits have been accused of "cheating" Doordarshan while negotiating rights for the World Cup telecast. The matter was kept under wraps by the other unit investigating the matter and did not get the same media attention as the main case. Former BCCI president I S Bindra was one of those who was called by the agency to testify. He had submitted a voluminous document alleging widespread corruption.

Mail Cricket Editor