South African govt steps into match-fixing row

Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told the Johannesburg Sunday Times that South Africa’s High Commissioner to India had listened to excerpts from the tapes and was convinced the accents are not South African.

The Indian government, however, turned down the High Commissioner’s request for a copy of the tapes. "They must give us those tapes," Pahad said. "We want to carry out our own inquiry. If there is any substance to the allegations — and I doubt very much that the individuals concerned are capable of something like that — we will take the necessary steps." The government also wants to know why the South African authorities were kept in the dark about the matter for weeks and heard about it only when it was announced at a press conference on Friday.

The Deputy Commissioner of Crime Prevention in New Delhi, Shripradeep Strivasta told the newspaper police would prove that Cronje’s voice was on the tapes. He admitted, however, that no voice-authentification tests had been done on the tapes. He said the tapes are locked away in a safe in New Delhi and would be produced only when the matter came before court. The tapes suggest a deal being done between Cronje and Sanjiv Chawla, an Indian living in London, to throw the third game of the series in Faridabad. In fact the South Africans won the game.

Match-fixing charges have also been filed against two Indians, including a New Delhi-based businessman Rajesh Kalra who has been arrested. Kalra told the India Today: "I believe the series was fixed at 400,000 – 500,000 dollars." Cronje has vehemently denied the charges, on Saturday again declaring his innocence. "I deny accepting any money from anyone for match-fixing," Cronje told the Sunday Times at a holiday home near the Western Cape resort town of George, where he and his wife were celebrating their wedding anniversary. "Obviously I am disappointed that, after such a successful tour, this had to happen. I know the country is behind me and I have lots of fans rooting for me." The beleaguered skipper is to address a media conference later Sunday. The United Cricket Board of South Africa has, like the overwhelming majority of the South African cricket-loving public, refused to believe the allegations against Cronje and the other players.