Spot fixing scandal is deep rooted in India: Kirti Azad

Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad on Saturday said spot fixing is deep-rooted and has hit cricket's very foundation.

Hinting that more names are likely to come out of the cupboard, Azad said: "It seems its (spot fixing scandal) is deep rooted, and it has hit the very foundation, because you will find lot of other big names coming out of the closet. Reports that I have got indicate that lot of associations also have direct links with these people. Through my sources, I have gathered that there might be a few more, whether political or non-political people, involved in this," Azad said.

Earlier Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan had lost all credibility and should resign on moral grounds.

Demanding his resignation, Nath further said: "He allied with his family and executed match-fixing. Whatever has happened is sad, and people have lost all trust in the game they love. The government is working on the entire issue to bring in stringent laws to curb dishonesty."

Srinivasan, on the other hand, said that he had done nothing wrong with regard to the Indian Premier League, and categorically refused to resign from his position.

Srinivasan told the media outside Mumbai Airport that: " I have done nothing wrong. I have no intention to resign. I cannot be bulldozed. This is all a political game and conspiracy. The BCCI will follow strictly all of its rules. The law will take its course."

Srinivasan was to meet his arrested son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan at around 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament D. Raja also expressed concern as a citizen of India over the spot-fixing episode in the ongoing sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Speaking exclusively to ANI TV, Raja called on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to speak out and clarify what it was doing to end such scams and what steps it would be taking to punish the guilty as per the laws of the land.

"Actually, it is for the people of the BCCI to speak out and make it clear, and clarify what is happening in the IPL. As a citizen of this country, my concern is that they (BCCI) are making money out of cricket," said Raja.

"It (the IPL) is a big gamble, and they (BCCI) are not accountable to finance ministry or, the sports ministry. The lawmakers should make sure what their role in all this is. The time has come for the government to take a serious notice and initiate strict action. Everything has become a fraud in the name of sports," he added.

Raja also said that he was personally not in favour of politicians interfering in the activities of sports federation.