SA cricket's integrity is burning while officials fiddle with words they hope will douse the flames of another match-fixing crisis.But administrators have not shown that effective action is being taken against the scourge that first raised its head in 2000 when former SA captain Hansie Cronje confessed to match-fixing.
On Thursday‚ media reports forced Cricket SA (CSA) to name Gulam Bodi as a vaguely described “intermediary” in a release in December in which the organisation said they were investigating allegations of corruption in this year’s franchise T20 competition.
Now‚ instead of intensifying their efforts to discover the names of any co-conspirators‚ CSA say they are waiting for Bodi to identify them.
Or perhaps not: a senior official has admitted he is not fully aware of the way forward. The SA Cricketers’ Association (Saca)‚ meanwhile‚ say it would be “inappropriate” to comment.
Contacted by telephone on Tuesday‚ Bodi issued a one-word answer when asked if he was a focus of the probe – “No” – and said he was in a meeting and would call back.
He did not return the call and subsequent attempts to talk to him failed.
But Bodi is‚ allegedly‚ just one piece in a puzzle that cannot be completed without the others.
“We don’t know who the other guys are‚” CSA’s head of media and communications Altaaf Kazi‚ said.
“We released Bodi’s identity because his name was already out in the media.
“We will now wait for him to name all the others who are implicated.”
What happens next?
“He has been charged‚ so it is now a legal matter and unfortunately I do not know what the entire process that will follow is.
“I will imagine he will speak to his lawyers. We are simply waiting for him now,” Kazi said.
Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations executive chairman who is also Saca CEO, Tony Irish‚ said: “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any aspect of the investigation.”
CSA say they have charged Bodi – internally‚ not criminally – with “contriving to fix‚ or otherwise improperly influence aspects” of the 2015 franchise T20 competition.
“Mr Bodi is presently co-operating with … anti-corruption officials‚” CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat was quoted as saying.
Bodi‚ who played two one-day internationals‚ a T20 international‚ and 340 matches across all three formats at provincial and franchise level‚ played his last representative match on January 24 last year.
Making and failing to report offers to fix matches could earn the perpetrators as much as a life sentence in prison.
SA cricket’s integrity burning
But administrators have not shown that effective action is being taken against the scourge that first raised its head in 2000 when former SA captain Hansie Cronje confessed to match-fixing.
On Thursday‚ media reports forced Cricket SA (CSA) to name Gulam Bodi as a vaguely described “intermediary” in a release in December in which the organisation said they were investigating allegations of corruption in this year’s franchise T20 competition.
Now‚ instead of intensifying their efforts to discover the names of any co-conspirators‚ CSA say they are waiting for Bodi to identify them.
Or perhaps not: a senior official has admitted he is not fully aware of the way forward. The SA Cricketers’ Association (Saca)‚ meanwhile‚ say it would be “inappropriate” to comment.
Contacted by telephone on Tuesday‚ Bodi issued a one-word answer when asked if he was a focus of the probe – “No” – and said he was in a meeting and would call back.
He did not return the call and subsequent attempts to talk to him failed.
But Bodi is‚ allegedly‚ just one piece in a puzzle that cannot be completed without the others.
“We don’t know who the other guys are‚” CSA’s head of media and communications Altaaf Kazi‚ said.
“We released Bodi’s identity because his name was already out in the media.
“We will now wait for him to name all the others who are implicated.”
What happens next?
“He has been charged‚ so it is now a legal matter and unfortunately I do not know what the entire process that will follow is.
“I will imagine he will speak to his lawyers. We are simply waiting for him now,” Kazi said.
Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations executive chairman who is also Saca CEO, Tony Irish‚ said: “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any aspect of the investigation.”
CSA say they have charged Bodi – internally‚ not criminally – with “contriving to fix‚ or otherwise improperly influence aspects” of the 2015 franchise T20 competition.
“Mr Bodi is presently co-operating with … anti-corruption officials‚” CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat was quoted as saying.
Bodi‚ who played two one-day internationals‚ a T20 international‚ and 340 matches across all three formats at provincial and franchise level‚ played his last representative match on January 24 last year.
Making and failing to report offers to fix matches could earn the perpetrators as much as a life sentence in prison.
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