JOHN MEHAFFEY, London | Wednesday 1.20pm
INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council delegates dismissed corruption allegations against their president Jagmohan Dalmiya at the start of a two-day meeting on Tuesday to discuss the match-fixing crisis rocking the sport.
At a media briefing after the first day of the emergency meeting, ICC chief executive David Richards said Dalmiya played no part in television negotiations prior to the 1998 ICC knockout tournament in Dhaka.
Last Wednesday Arun Aggarwal, a financial adviser hired by Indian televison to investigate the sale of sports rights, alleged Dalmiya had abused his position as sole negotiator for the ICC in the tournament.
Dalmiya would not comment on the allegations after leaving the meeting, held in the England Cricket Board’s offices at Lord’s.
But in a detailed briefing, Richards said media rights to the tournament had been sold by a formal process. He said there had been four bids which were opened in his presence and that of the finance committee chairman Ehsan Mani.
The top two bidders had been invited to resubmit their bids with the ICC finally accepting the highest offer from Doordarshan.
”At no stage did Mr Dalmiya as ICC president get involved in those negotiations,” Richards said. Richards said the 18 delegates had signed ”without any hesitation whatsover” a declaration suggested by England Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin saying that they have no financial interest in cricket other than that already known by their domestic boards.
Richards also moved swifly to defuse criticisms of Dalmiya by former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Inerjit Singh Bindra.
Bindra told a news conference on April 19 that Dalmiya was ”in the grip of the mafia and sharks.” Earlier he said three Indian cricketers admitted to him they had placed bets with bookmakers on a match in England a few years ago.
Richards said Bindra had written to the ICC and ”indicated that he has gathered a considerable amount of information.”
”Today we have written to Mr Bindra and invited him to make a formal written submission through our solicitors so that can be dealt with by the executive board or any institution we put in place tomorrow,” he said.
Richards refused to take any questions but his statement on Bindra was a clear hint that the ICC is planning to set up a body to deal with the scandal, triggered by South Africa captain Hansie Cronje’s confession that he received money from a bookmaker.
”I have been saying to the media and to the wide world that one of the great frustrations that I have experienced as chief executive of the ICC is the lack of hard evidence about all these allegations of match-fixing, or bribery or corruption in our sport,” Richards added.
”Anyone in our sport who has information that they feel we should know about should bring it forward.” — Reuters