Govt warns BCCI to set house in order

He was commenting on the reaction of some BCCI officials to his earlier statements suggesting that the National coach Kapil Dev and former skipper Mohd Azharuddin should voluntarily step down. The officials had seen this as government’s interference in the working of the autonomous body.

“Till date we have not (interfered) but if required we will. Government will do its duty in the wake of the scandal which has outraged every single cricket lover,” he said.

On the reported controversy about BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele’s claim that government action in the issue may amount to interference in the autonomous body’s work, Dhindsa said “government has not yet interfered.”

Dhindsa on April 27 had met senior officials of BCCI and had sought a report from them regarding the utilisation of the huge funds at the board’s command, the steps taken to promote young talents, and to formulate a strict Code of Conduct for the players in the wake of the match-fixing scandal.

The Sports Minister said the board had recently assured him that reports regarding funds and young talents would be submitted along with the Code of Conduct.

On the Income-Tax raids on cricket players and officials across the country, Dhindsa said the I-T department must have had proof about their income, hence the raid.

He said, “this department does not conduct raid without prima facie proof and they must have had that much of proof otherwise such a massive raid would not have been conducted.”

Dhindsa reiterated his earlier statement that if the players, involved in the scandal, came forward and confessed to the crime, a lenient view would be taken.

“If they had confessed, like sacked South African captain Hansie Cronje, it would have been over by now,” Dhindsa said.

He, however, said the government supported the BCCI’s Code of Conduct for which was for banning any player for life if found guilty of the match-fixing. “I will support a code of conduct which imposes a life ban on player found guilty of match-fixing charges.” The code is likely to be submitted to the Minister on August 1.

“This is an apt punishment on a guilty player as he has taken the whole nation for a ride by fixing a match when the public thinks that it was watching a honest game,” he said.

However, he said, “if the government finds the code lacking in any manner, it will definitely ask the board to improve upon it or change it.”