Senior cricketers have assets worth
Rs 2 billion, says Dhindsa
Neena Chaudhary in Chandigarh
Union Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Mines Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa disclosed that many people had provided him information that some senior cricket players had assets amounting to Rs 2 billion. The assets of some junior players could be fixed at Rs 100 million.
Dhindsa was speaking to press persons at the Chandigarh Press Club on Saturday. He did not disclose the names of his informants. He added that there was no personal information with him to support the allegations.
The minister added that he would wait for the completion of the Central Bureau of Investigation investigations and the report from the Board of Control for Cricket in India before making any further statement on the match-fixing controversy.
Dhindsa said that there was no proposal, nor any pressure, to sack the present manager of the Indian Cricket team, Kapil Dev.
Dhindsa stressed that those found guilty of match-fixing would definitely be punished. He added that the intention was to cleanse the game of cricket, and not send people to jails.
He said that the government could consider leniency for those who volunteer to give information leading to unravelling of the scandal. However, nobody had volunteered so far, he added.
Dhindsa denied that the CBI investigation was ordered to fix
the BCCI. He said that though the BCCI was an autonomous body, it was after thorough discussions at various levels that the government overcame its initial reluctance to intervene in the matter. BCCI representatives also participated in these meetings.
However, Dhindsa said it was not possible to hold a public inquiry into the controversy as was being done in South Africa, claiming it could hamper the CBI investigation.
The BCCI is to submit a report, on various aspects of the governance of the game in the country, to the sports ministry on July 26.
Dhindsa said that the BCCI was asked to give details of the funds spent to groom future players. It is learnt that the minister is in possession of a petition filed by some individuals who have charged that while the BCCI members spent a whopping Rs 6.5 million on their meetings in the last year, only Rs 1.6 million was spent on training young cricketers.
Dhindsa said that a new sports policy would be placed before Parliament in the next session. He also detailed the steps being initiated by the government to improve the standard of Indian sports at the international level.
In the new policy, clear guidelines would be laid out for the different federations and organisations managing various sports events at the national and the state levels. A system for fixing accountability would also be laid out.
Dhindsa, who also heads the Punjab Olympic association, said that Punjab was fully geared to organise the National Games this year. He said that artificial tracks for hockey and athletics would be laid after the monsoon.
He said that talks were on with the Punjab government to construct a Centre for Excellence in Sports near the famous Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali. The venue is close to Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
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