Cronje denies match-fixing charges
Durban (South Africa) - A planned series of benefit matches in
India involving teams led by Hansie Cronje and Sachin Tendulkarís
India in late April are expected to be abandoned as the fall out
over the match-fixing charges became entrenched at government
level last night.
While Cronje firmly stood his ground and strenuously denied
Indiaís police allegations, the United Cricket Board stood firmly
behind the man who has led South Africa since November 1994.
On the political front, however, South Africaís department of
foreign affairs are to meet with the Indian High Commissioner in
Pretoria today while the South African High Commissioner in
India, Ms Maite Nkoane-Ramashaba, to have an urgent meeting with
the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board,
last night told a media conference that the South African
Government and the United Cricket Board viewed the allegations
"in a most serious light" and discussions at government level
would continue.
"The issues at stake are the lack of protocol used on this most
serious issue and the bugging of phones used by the South African
team while in India." Dr Bacher told the conference.
"These are very serious issues, but let me reaffirm the UCB
believes in the integrity and honesty in our national captain,"
said Dr Bacher who was flanked by Cronje and Nicky Boje, one of
the other three players the Indian police have attempted to
implicate in allegations.
The others are Herschelle Gibbs, who was also at the conference
and Pieter Strydom who is not in the national squad for the
three-match series against Australia.
The players were at Kingsmead last night where the South African
sided had a practice match against a South African Invitation XI
as a warm-up for the first of three games against the World Cup
champions who arrived yesterday.
Cronje, looking quite relaxed, come out strongly in his denial of
the allegations.
"I want to make it 100 percent clear that I deny ever receiving
any sum of money during the one-day international series in
India," Cronje said. "I want to also make it absolutely clear I
have never spoken to spoken to any member of the team about
throwing a game."
"I want to make it clear that we see 40 to 50 people a day coming
in and out of hotel rooms: asking for interviews, asking for
autographs, asking for pictures ..... so it is impossible for me
to identify one individual as the allegations contain," Cronje
told the large gathering of South African and foreign media in
the Kingsmead presidential lounge.
Percy Sonn, acting president of the UCB, who is now deputy
national director of the South African anti-crime unit known as
the Scorpions, pointed out that the Indian police was the agency
of the Indian Government.
"Should they do anything which affects our nationals or national
assets, which our national team is, then obviously it is
something for our government to handle and not us (the UCB),"
Sonn said.
"It is not the Indian (cricket) board, who approached us so it is
not a cricket-to-cricket matter. This is a government matter,"
Sonn said.
"What is affected are the individual player rights: questions of
defamation, questions of privacy," he said.
Sonn said while the South Africa and India constitutions were
similar, the activities of the New Delhi police were not in
keeping with the Indian constitution.
Cronje did admit that at a team meeting during the 1996/97 tour
when the players were involved in a benefit match that the
players were offered $US250 000 but "laughed it off".
The South African captain said he had to use another mobile phone
in India as his own was damaged, having been dropped. The meant
he had to borrow one from the teamís manager. Goolam Rajah.
"I did take mine over but did not use it at all," said Cronje.