Sports Minister Ajay Maken wants the match-fixing claims made by former cricketer Vinod Kambli investigated by the BCCI and says his Ministry might step in if the Cricket Board doesn’t order a probe.
Kambli has created quite a flutter by claiming that something was “amiss” in India’s loss in the 1996 World Cup semifinal against Sri Lanka and Mr. Maken said the claim should be investigated for all its worth.
“When a player of the team has made a charge, it should be thoroughly investigated. People of the country have the right to know what exactly happened. Whether the accusations made by the player are true or false, the people have the right to know,” Mr. Maken said.
“So, it should be properly investigated and if something wrong has happened then the culprits should be punished,” he said.
The Minister said if the BCCI doesn’t act, the Sports Ministry might conduct an inquiry of its own.
“We will see. As you know, the BCCI has not come to the Sports Ministry for any recognition so far but I would want whatever agency is there, BCCI should order a probe into it. If the BCCI doesn’t conduct a probe, we will look at it,” he said.
Mr. Maken said he was pained by the claims made by Kambli and said if true, it would be extremely unfortunate for the game of cricket.
