A court in New Delhi has revealed some startling facts related to the infamous 2000 match-fixing scandal that rocked and tainted the gentleman’s game. The court also indicted four individuals, charging them with fraud and criminal conspiracy.
The match fixing took place while South Africa was on tour to India, and one of the main accused was former Proteas captain Hansi Cronje. Apart from Cronje, the names of former South African cricketers Herschel Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Peter Strydom were also implicated in the scandal.
During the hearing, the court stated that some matches of the India-South Africa Test and ODI series were rigged and there were attempts to rig other matches as well. The match-fixing scandal took place between February 19 and March 19 in two Tests and five ODIs.
Delhi court on 2000 match-fixing scandal:
The court released details of recorded conversations between Cronje and London-based gambler Sanjeev Chawla. In 2000, the Delhi police intercepted the calls and got hold of recorded conversations between Cronje and Chawla.
Referring to recorded conversations before the fifth and final ODI between India and South Africa, the court observed that “it is clear that Hansi Cronje agreed to tamper with the match score and also agreed to tamper with the individual scores of Hershel Gibbs”.
“He also spoke to Williams about getting 50+ runs in 10 overs. Both were promised $15,000 each.
“Even though the players forgot about the deal in the middle of the game and did not play as agreed, we can conclude that there was a serious attempt to fix the game.
The court added: “Recorded conversations revealed that large amounts of foreign currency were exchanged between the defendants through hawala transactions, which were intended to make further payments to South African members of the criminal conspiracy.”
The match-fixing scandal of 2000 was one of the biggest scandals to ever hit the world of cricket. Cronje was sacked as South Africa captain and banned for life before he tragically died in a plane crash.
Meanwhile, Chawla was extradited to India in 2000. Later, in 2013, the Delhi Police filed an FIR in the match-fixing scandal and the chargesheet included several South African cricketers, including Cronje.
