Condon lauds CBI, Delhi police efforts

Onkar Singh

Head of the anti-corruption unit of the International Cricket Council Sir Paul Condon and his team called on Sports Minister Uma Bharti on Wednesday.

Later, addressing a crowded press conference, Condon said he and his team have been encouraged by the response from Indian officials, particularly the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Delhi police.

"In two days we have managed to get enormous amount of material. We are not investigating Indian cricket and Indian cricketers, because they have already been investigated by the CBI. I must congratulate the CBI and Delhi police for doing a good job.

"The CBI has done a thorough job and what they have come out with is a comprehensive report. Some questions have been raised in the media as to why the Indian investigating agency named the foreign players involved. My answer is simple: that if they had not done and at some stage it was found that the CBI knew about the involvement of the foreign players in that case, the credibility of the agency would have come into question.

"We are essentially investigating the involvement of the foreign players. We have now enough material in hand to proceed with further investigations with the help of the investigating agencies in other countries.

"The CBI report is a significant step forward in the fight against corruption in cricket and I congratulate the CBI for its thoroughness and professionalism," he said.

He denied that match-fixing is essentially a phenomenon prevailing in the Indian subcontinent.

"This is not the trouble of the cricket-playing countries in this part of the subcontinent but it is something that is taking roots in other parts of the world as well. My investigators went to South Africa and spoke to Hansie Cronje and we have got his answers that would be carefully studied by us," he said, but refused to elaborate on what Cronje told the investigators.

In fact, in response to most of the questions directed at him, he took shelter behind the words: "It would be too premature to state anything at this stage because it might hamper the investigations."

He said: "Maybe at some other stage I would be able to answer the questions better. Besides the people we have officially confirmed to you, I am not prepared to discuss if at all we had met any individual player or bookie or anyone else."

Condon made it clear that he is working independently and would only report to Sir Griffiths, head of ICC's code of conduct committee.

"We are determined to leave no stone unturned in investigating these allegations, but equally innocent players should not be harassed. We have jointly agreed to move forward in a coordinated fashion with colleagues around the cricketing world, to take investigations to a further stage. Those players who are involved in these criminal activities must be punished either by the respective boards or the law of the land.

"I agree that different countries have different laws. But there should be a law to deal with the offense of match-fixing," said Condon.

Mail Cricket Editor