Indian police say report vindicates their work

Indian police agencies said on Wednesday the International Cricket Council's (ICC) report into corruption in the game vindicated their efforts.

A report from Paul Condon, head of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, published on Wednesday said match-fixing was still a problem in the game.

"The report vindicates the stand of the Delhi police and the investigations carried out by Delhi police find an echo in various corners," K.K. Paul, joint commissioner of the Delhi police told Reuters.

Last year Delhi police charged the then South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and team mates Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje with involvement in match-fixing during a one-day series in India.

The South African board banned Cronje for life after he admitted taking money to provide information to bookmakers.

MATCH-FIXING EMBEDDED

The federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has been probing the match-fixing scandal in the country, said Condon's investigation agreed with the CBI's report that said match-fixing was embedded in the game.

The CBI investigated match-fixing allegations last year and named five Indian test players and nine overseas internationals stars over match-fixing allegations in its report released last November.

"Our report also mentions...match-fixing is deep-rooted no doubt. Now it has been corroborated by Condon," Ravindra Nath Sawani, the CBI's joint director who headed the probe, told Reuters

"Our stand is substantiated in the report," Sawani said.

He said the CBI was happy Condon has acknowledged the Indian agency's work in his report.

The Indian cricket board banned former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma from cricket for life and suspended Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja for five years after they were named in the CBI report. All four players have denied any wrongdoing.

Wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia, who was the other Indian player named in the report, was exonerated by the board.

Sawani said the CBI wanted other countries to show the same sincerity as India in rooting out corruption in cricket.

"They (Condon's report) believe not everything has been brought out. We have done our work in India. Definitely, a lot more work in other countries...abroad, needs to be done."

"Similar interest and sincerity needs to be shown in the rest of the world," he added.

The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit investigators had met CBI officials at the beginning of their investigations, after the Indian agency named several former international captains including Brian Lara (West Indies), Alec Stewart (England) and Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka).

Mail Cricket Editor