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Dhoni mum on spot-fixing, ministry proposes new law

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday maintained a stoic silence on the spot-fixing scandal that has, among others, also led to the arrest of CSK’s Team principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

On expected lines, BCCI issued a diktat that the journalists attending the press conference won’t be allowed to ask questions on the spot-fixing scandal, which rocked the cash-rich league leading after the arrest of three cricketers including India international S Sreesanth. When Dhoni was asked why has he not responded as the leader of the Indian cricket team, the media manager Dr R N Baba stopped the scribe from probing the skipper further, asking him to stick to questions pertaining to Champions Trophy.

Dr Baba is an official of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and is also one of Srinivasan’s close aides. He has performed the duties of media manager for a major part of the last season. His son Aparajith is an U-19 India and contracted player of CSK. Another question that was put forward to Dhoni was how difficult it will be for him and the team to instill faith in the cricket loving people that everything would be ‘fair’ during Champions Trophy. All Dhoni could manage was a chuckle as Dr Baba again sprung into action stopping the journalist from probing further.

The law ministry, meanwhile, has proposed punishment ranging from three to seven years’ jail for various ‘dishonest’ practices in a sporting event, including spot-fixing and match-fixing.

The draft ‘Dishonest Practice in Sporting Event (Prevention) Bill’, submitted to the sports ministry, provides for punishment of up to three years in jail with fine for accepting gratification for fixing the result of a sporting event. The punishment for performing dishonestly for fixing the result of a sporting event by accepting gratification is imprisonment which may extend up to seven years or fine or both. Similar punishment has been prescribed for those influencing the performance of any player for performing dishonestly for fixing the result of any game. The draft makes the offence non-bailable and applies to both domestic and international games. Punishment has been prescribed for foreign players playing in Indian sporting events for accepting gratification, playing dishonestly and also betting in India.


Scindia wants Srinivasan to put in his papers


Jyotiraditya Scindia became the second highly influential member of the Indian cricket board after its former president Inderjit Singh Bindra to call for N Srinivasan’s resignation over the spot fixing scandal.

Scindia, chairman of the finance committee of the BCCI, said that Srinivasan should step aside until the investigations reached a conclusive end. ‘I do believe it would be in the fitness of things if Mr. Srinivasan did step aside until this matter reached a conclusive end in terms of an inquiry,’
Scindia said.
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