No player denied the charges -- Madhavan

No player denied the charges -- Madhavan
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

NEW DELHI, NOV 18: The five cricketers accused of match-fixing have not disputed the allegations levelled against them by the CBI, the BCCI's inquiry officer, K. Madhavan, said here today. Madhavan said he might summon all the national players for questioning.

The CBI probe had accused Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Ajay Sharma and whistle-blower Manoj Prabhakar of match-fixing and betting. On Saturday, Madhavan, a former CBI detective, said the five were in no mood to refute the serious charges. ``I confronted the players with documentary evidence provided by the CBI... None of the (five) players disputed the CBI report,'' he said after grilling Sharma for four hours in New Delhi.

Former skipper Azharuddin, after remaining incommunicado since the CBI report's publication, finally surfaced on Thursday and met Madhavan in his hometown of Hyderabad. ``I might summon everyone, all players who can throw more light on the whole gamut of match-fixing besides questioning other persons, who fall under the purview of the BCCI,'' Madhavan told reporters.

Madhavan, however, declined to give details of his cross-examinations, which had taken him to three Indian cities in the past 18 days. ``I cannot say anything on the issue as yet because I find that I am in the seat of a judge and I cannot pre-empt my judgement,'' Madhavan said, adding that he would hand over his inquiry report to the BCCI on November 25.

The CBI, which has also named nine foreign players in the scandal, has charged Azharuddin with fixing at least three international matches at the behest of a bookie and has said Jadeja and the others were as guilty. All the five players have been banned by the BCCI from international and domestic cricket matches pending Madhavan's recommendations.

Madhavan has also not ruled out questioning Indian cricket icon Kapil Dev, who was absolved by the CBI, or star batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Former Test player Prabhakar has accused Kapil of offering him 2.5 million rupees to under-perform in a one-day game against Pakistan in 1994.

Disgraced South African skipper Hansie Cronje has charged Azharuddin with introducing him to an Indian bookie, who has emerged as one of the key figures in this scandal.