Open Season
A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. If only the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had taken timely steps to investigate the rumours about match-fixing when they first began to sound credible, things would not have come to such a pass. Allegations are now flying thick and fast. The extraordinary conduct of Inderjit Singh Bindra, former president of the BCCI, in naming a much respected and widely adulated former captain of India as having offered a bribe to throw a match, typifies the wages of such neglect. In the wake of the Cronje episode (in which case the police at least had some tapes of telephone conversations), the public is prepared to believe more such allegations, especially when Mr Bindra has alleged that every single match is fixed! At least half a dozen Indian cricketers have been named and many from other countries. In the event that any of these allegations is without foundation (and someone has to be presumed innocent until proven guilty), the damage done in the interim to the reputation of that player is incalculable.
The media has to take some of the blame. Not only has it chosen to repeat unsupported allegations, it has in some instances not even cared to get the concerned player's version. Even that wouldn't help much in a surcharged atmosphere, after the initial Cronje denials turned out to be bogus. The media could take cover behind the fact that it is pursuing a story of immense interest. But the Indian legal system does not distinguish (as the American one does) between public persons and private persons, and it is a well-established position in Indian law that repeating libel is as much a crime as the original libel. Had libel suits been decided more swiftly and had the damages been truly punitive, it is unlikely that the media would have been so casual in its handling of the story. The BBC's circumspection stands out in this context, because the player at the centre of the immediate controversy remained unnamed.
Matters have now reached the stage where only the CBI can deliver the goods. However, in order for it do so, the government has to amend the order entrusting the matter to it. As of now, it has only been asked to conduct an enquiry which, according to its officials, is different from being asked to conduct an investigation. Part of the problem is the CBI's poor track record, with most cases not concluded successfully. But in the cricket match-fixing scandal, even a good job by the CBI will not be enough. For a proper cleansing of the game, the BCCI will have to be made more accountable by corporatising it. A new charter for it, introducing transparency in its functioning and ensuring a greater voice to cricket professionals, is what is needed. It will not be easy to do this, and there might be legal difficulties as well. But the time is ripe now to make the attempt.