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RAJYA SABHA [19 April, 2000] MATCH-FIXING in CRICKET SHRI

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RAJYA SABHA [19 April, 2000] MATCH-FIXING in CRICKET SHRI RAJYA SABHA [19 April, 2000] MATCH-FIXING IN CRICKET SHRI SURESH KALMADl (Maharashtra): Sir, once upon a time, cricket was a gentleman's game. And it was played in leisure. But, unfortunately, today, it assumes such proportions of commercial ity that it is not doing cricket proud. The recent South African cricketer Cronje's affair is just the tip of the ice-berg. It is an open secret. It is happening in all the countries who are playing cricket. Match-fixing, betting and players being involved in it, is being alleged many times. The President of the South African Cricket Control Board, Ali Bacher, has alleged that the Indian sub-continent was the hot bed of betting and match-fixing. Sir, in each one-day cricket match, there is betting to the tune of about Rs. 500 crores to Rs. 1000 crores. These are large figures which would tempt anybody and therein lies the big danger. The cricket-loving public also will be taken for a ride. They are watching the cricket matches thinking that their country is going to win. But the inside betting going on ail that while influences the game. Sir, the one-dayers are the main culprits. In 1995, all round the world, we had just about 12 one day matches. But the commercialization has taken it to such an extent that last year we had nearly 43 one day matches. In 4-5 years' time, from 12 matches a year, it has gone up to 43 in all the cricket-playing countries. This year, even though only four months have passed, we have already finished about 20 such matches. One test match ends and the other one starts. Sir, if you remember, for the first time, when cricket was introduced in the Commonwealth Games, at the same time, the Cricket Control Board had fixed matches in Montreal. No cricket is played in Montreal; there are only friendly matches, and a lot of money is involved. And the better team was sent to Montreal, not to the Commonwealth Games. India does not believe in gold medals any more. By sending another team to the Commonwealth Games, we did not win the gold medal, but that does not matter! Gold matters more than gold medal. It is very unfortunate that this kind of a thing is happening in the commercial world of cricket today. In the name of globalisation, it is going to Kenya; it is going to a place like Montreal. But, actually, it is not globalisation; it is commercialisation. It is the private party which is inviting these people, and a lot of money is involved. So, all these things are happening today. I am concerned over the charges being made by the former Cricket Control Board Chief, Mr. Bindra. Players like Mr. Manoj Prabhakar had made this complaint. But they have not been effectively gone into. Of 214 [ 19 April, 2000] RAJYA SABHA course, I am happy that the Cricket Control Board has said that they will place the Chandrachud Committee Report before the public and the MPs, through internet and Parliament. I am happy that they have taken that step. But that is a very, very small step forward. A lot more needs to be done. Just doing these things will not help. The Cricket Control Board, yesterday, did not talk about reducing the number of matches. They have not talked about it. They are just saying, 'Code of Conduct.' They are not saying that cricket will come back to its old glory. They have not said that. Just changing the rules, or, making the Chandrachud Committee Report public is not going to matter. We have to investigate. They say that in VDS, one cricket captain had put in Rs. 18 crores. How? This needs to be investigated. And it is not happening here in India only. It is happening everywhere. There is no doubt about it. A similar incident took place in Pakistan. A retired judge of the Pakistan High Court has also come out with a report and he has named some people there. It happened in England also. Chris Lewis of England also made such charges. Today, I read in the newspaper that in Zimbabwe also the same thing happened. It is reported that the South African team, to lose a match with India, was promised 2,50,000 dollars. Time and again, all those things have been coming in the Press. But we closed our eyes to these things, until this incident came out. I must congratulate the Delhi Police for what they have done. They have really opened the eyes of the people. But there must be an enquiry by the ICC. The ICC must take it up. That is the only competent body to review what is happening. They must write to the International Olympic Committee. After the Salt Lake Scandal, they have come out with drastic recommendations.The International Cricket Council must also come forward with drastic remedies, if the credibility of cricket is to be maintained. Just this police enquiry will not do, the CBI has to come into it. So far as the Indian context is concerned, the CBI has to come into it and investigate these things. That also is not sufTicient because an international operation is going on. The Interpol must play a very active role. The ICC must involve itself. It is not the job of the Government. It is the job of the Cricket Control Board. The Indian Cricket Control Board should come forward and ask the police to look into this aspect of the game; otherwise, it will be killed once and for all. We all know that India is a land of cricket. But we have to think about other games also. The Minister of Communications was here, but now he has left. Doordarshan must not focus on cricket alone. Cricket is played in just 6-7 countries of 215 RAJYA SABHA [19 April, 2000] the world. There are many other games which played the world over. Our hockey team recently participated in a four-nation meet in Australia and we had a chance of winning the gold medal, but that was not shown on Doordarshan. What is shown on Doordarahan is only the cricket scandal. We are not focussing on other games; When we don't do well in the Olympics, everybody makes a lot of noise, but precious little is done after that to improve the standard. The budget of the Indian Government towards sports continues to be a hundred crores, for the last ten years. I am happy that the Government has come out, for the first time, with 100 per cent tax exemption for Olympics. A little bit of correction is being made. Once again, I think the whole thing must be gone into. My last point is that because of what has happened in India and since we have discovered the conversation of South African captain, Hansie Cronje, there is a backlash on the Indian community in South Africa. I think this needs to be tackled at the diplomatic level and the people of Indian origin must be given protection. There have been a few cases where the Indians have been targeted by the South Africans at large. SHRI EDUARDO FALEIRO (Goa): Sir, just one minute. You have given me permission to raise an issue. MR. CHAIRMAN: No, not on this issue. This is a continuation. Shri Bratin Sengupta. SHRI BRATIN SENGUPTA (West Bengal): Hon. Chairman, Sir, when the people of this country are languishing due to severe problems like price rise, deprivation of basic rights and many other things ...... MR. CHAIRMAN: You are only to associate with him, no speech. SHRI BRATIN SENGUPTA: Sir, I know that. This is a very important issue. Therefore, I seek your indulgence to mention a few points in addition to what Mr. Kalmadi said. Subsequent to the cricket betting issue hitting the headlines, certain inquiries and revelations have started. All of this should have been started long ago and action should have been taken long ago because the former President of the BCCl and the cricket management people were all in the know ef things. This is not a revelation to them, at least. Let us have an idea about what kind of betting and what kind of 216 [ 19 April, 2000] RAJYA SABHA black money generation happens during a cricket betting. The former President of BCCI has commented that for every rupee that is being generated out of a cricket event, which is being played somehwere, for the hosting organisation like the Board of Control for Cricket in India or any other hosting organisation, an amount of Rs.200 is being generated as black money outside. Particularly, in the Sharjah Cup, where the matches are basically played between India and Pakistan, black money to the tune of Rs.8,000 crores is generated . It is from a single cricket event. All this money is coming from drug peddlers, mafias and many other avenues. All these things are known to the former Presidents of BCCI and the cricket management people. But there has been no action as yet. An IPS officer of Bombay commented three years ago that during the Titan Cup match between India and South Africa, there had been a transaction of Rs.400 crores in a single match. Despite having fared well in the rest of the event, the South Africans fared very badly in that particular match. The IPS officer suspected that it was fixed. An amount of Rs.400 crores was transacted.
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