NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 27: Indicted by the CBI and Madhavan Committee reports, former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja may soon be stripped of the Arjuna Award conferred upon them for excellence in sports. The Union Ministry of Law is learnt to have advised the Ministry of Sports to strip the players of national awards ``for bringing disgrace to the sport''.``In fact, it is the only action the Government would take against such players,'' a senior sports ministry official told The Indian Express today. The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), which received the report from Madhavan today and sent a synopsis to Bharti, may take disciplinary action, even amounting to a life ban on the tainted cricketers at its meeting on November 29.BCCI's anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan is learnt to have found Azhar guilty of match-fixing while Jadeja, Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma and former physiotherapist Ali Irani have been reportedly indicted for having links with bookies. Madhavan has cleared wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia of all charges though he had been indicted by the CBI for betting and match-fixing.The BCCI's investigating officer has also cleared the Ferozeshah Kotla groundsman, Ram Adhar, of the charge of receiving a bribe for preparing the ``desired pitch'' though Adhar too had been indicted by the CBI.Board president A C Muthaiah and Secretary J Y Lele submitted a synopsis of the Madhavan report to Bharti this evening. ``I have told the Board officials to take disciplinary action against the indicted players immediately,'' Bharti said after meeting Muthaiah and Lele.``The Congress has promised to support my move to bring sports on the Concurrent List. It would give the Centre power to formulate stringent laws to prevent recurrence of such ugly incidents,'' she added.While allegations of FERA and income-tax violations by cricketers will be handled by the Finance Ministry, the Sports Minister will soon convene a meeting of officials of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Revenue Department and Home Ministry to devise stringent measures the Government could take to prevent match-fixing, she said.The BCCI's disciplinary committee will meet tomorrow, ahead of the special general meeting of the Board to be held in Calcutta on November 29 to discuss the punishment to be awarded to the indicted players.Muthaiah after meeting the Sports Minister said the disciplinary committee might even impose a life ban on the tainted players. He, however, was more vociferous in condemning Azharuddin. ``His involvement in match-fixing was much more than that of other players,'' he said, adding ``former physiotherapist of the team Ali Irani was the conduit between the players and the bookies.''The CBI report had quoted a bookie, Mukesh Kumar Gupta, saying that Azharuddin must have been paid over Rs 90 lakh by him to fix matches. Azhar has denied all charges. Prabhakar, who has accused other players of being involved in match-fixing, had introduced a number of foreign players to Gupta, it said.
