NEW DELHI: Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur wants the names of the 13 players allegedly involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 spot-fixing controversy to be made public.
Thakur told the Times of India that the BCCI has been lax in punishing the real culprits in the scandal. The names were enclosed in a sealed envelope and submitted to the Supreme Court by Justice Mukul Mudgal-led committee in February 2014.
Thakur, who was removed as BCCI President by SC for not complying with the orders of the apex court with regard to implementation of the Lodha committee reforms in January this year, told the TOI, “For me, individuals are not important. The institution is important. I am not bothered about any ‘A’ or ‘B’ player. I am only concerned about BCCI as an institution. The envelope containing the name of the cricketers was never opened by the Court, which means the issue from where the entire episode started wasn’t resolved. But other issues against the BCCI were opened.”
Stressing that there must be harsher punishment for individuals involved in match-fixing or unethical practice, Thakur added, “Certain A, B or C players are roaming free after so many years. They are sitting in TV studios. The same TV channels and newspapers which wrote against them on fixing and betting, they have called them cricket experts. So, there has to be some law and harsher punishment for such individuals and activities.”
Thakur, who has moved the National Sports Ethics Commission Bill 2016 with the intention to curb the menace of match-fixing, age fraud and sexual harassment in sports, says the bill also has a clause that includes 10-year jail term for match fixing, and life ban as well.
