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Journalism of Courage
As of now, this appears to be a story heading nowhere — almost exactly as its earlier avatar did five years ago. Responding to New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming’s allegations of a bribe offer in 1999 aimed at match-fixing, Aushim Khetrapal today went into denial mode and stressed that he’d already been given a clean chit.
The allegation, which first surfaced in 1999, appears in Fleming’s book Balance of Power, and was reported by PTI on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference today, Khetrapal replayed the same defence he’d deployed five years ago when the story was broken by News of the World.
He did, he says, meet Fleming at the Leicester hotel (as the book states) but it was in connection with organising a charity match for the Punjab Cricket Association and also to discuss the possibility of marketing the Kiwi captain in India.
Khetrapal, who is now connected with films, was a sports promoter then.
He also added that an inquiry conducted by Scotland Yard, and initiated by the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, had given him a clean chit.
‘‘We also have got an apology letter from News of the World after we had planned to sue them for $1 million,’’ he said. However, the letter was not shown to the media.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was the ICC president when the episode first surfaced, said the Code of Conduct Commission did probe after the report surfaced. ‘‘The matter was probed but I can’t recall the outcome. All I know is that, following various investigations carried out across the world, Ajay Jadeja, Mohammad Azharuddin and Salim Malik are the only players to be punished,’’ he said.
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THE WRONG ’UN?
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• Has Stephen Fleming slipped in a wrong ’un? According to Sunday’s agency story on his allegations, Fleming’s book says that he met Khetrapal during World Cup ’99 (May-June) in Leicester. Khetarpal says he wasn’t in England at the time, though he admits to have met Fleming in July-August at Leicester. When the matter first came to light five years ago, the dates mentioned were the latter (July-August). Was this a slip of the pen? Or is there yet more to this story? |
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Would the BCCI probe Fleming’s fresh allegations? ‘‘The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit was made for such things and it’s their job to look into such matters’’, Dalmiya said.
At Lord’s, the ICC said it was ‘‘aware of the allegations’’ and they had been investigated. ‘‘We do not wish to offer any further comment’’, ICC spokesman Jon Long told this paper.
THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT
THE CHARGE
In 1999 News of The World reports that Khetrapal and a businessman checked into a hotel in Leicester, where the New Zealand team was staying, in July. He is alleged to have offered Stephen Fleming $300,000 to fix the forthcoming Eng-NZ Test
THE DENIAL
Calling the bribery charge a ‘‘figment of imagination’’, Khetrapal slaps a million-pound suit against the paper. What he does admit is that he met Fleming in connection with a match scheduled to be played in Punjab but there was no bribe offered
ICC’S STAND
Jagmohan Dalmiya, then the ICC chief, confirms that an Indian sports promoter is under Scotland Yard investigation but refused to name him. The ICC forms a Code of Conduct Commission with Lord Hugh Griffths, a former MCC president and judge, to head the panel
