Match-fixing offenders will have their records erased

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 20. Players indulging in match-fixing and betting face a ban ranging from five years to the rest of their lives. This penalty figures in the BCCI's Code of Conduct unveiled here on Sunday. The Board's Working Committee finalised the Code of Conduct besides focussing on other aspects of Indian cricket.

Tainted players will also suffer the ignominy of their records being erased. The Code of Conduct bans mobile phones inside match venues and requires players to account for the foreign exchange earned on tours and deposit it with the Board immediately on return.

``The Code shall come into effect on October 1. The Code is effective from today but it needs to be armed with some amendments which can only be made in our (BCCI) Annual General Body Meeting on September 29,'' said BCCI president Mr. A.C. Muthiah in a press conference.

The Working Committee has entrusted former CBI joint director, Mr. R. Madhavan, the task of `introspecting' television and sponsorship rights awarded by the Board. ``He will also be a commissioner of enquiries into the violations of the Code of Conduct,'' Mr. Muthiah said.

The Board has recognised the importance of physical fitness though belatedly. ``Merely playing cricket does not help, physical fitness is also important,'' said Mr. Muthiah. ``The Board will buy fitness equipment worth Rupees 10 to 12 lakhs and will allocate it to various associations. Every association should have a physio and the Board will pay 50 per cent of his salary,'' he said.

The Board has appointed Dr. Anand Joshi as Chief Medical Administrator and each zone now has to finalise a hospital which will be authorised to certify a player's fitness. The ceiling on medical reimbursement for retired players has also been extended upto Rupees three lakhs.

The need to stay abreast of technological advances in pitch management also figured in the Working Committee meeting. ``Abroad they transfer pitches from one place to another. We have appointed a chief curator - Mr. Kasturirangan - and he will be assisted by Dhiraj Prasanna,'' Mr. Muthiah said.

Plans are also afoot to relocate the BCCI headquarters inside the Cricket Club of India premises in Brabourne Stadium. Also on the anvil is a National Cricket Museum.

Refurbishing domestic cricket also figured in the meeting's agenda. ``National players have to play in domestic tournaments to be eligible for selection and the Board will soon invite bids for telecast rights of domestic cricket,'' Mr. Muthiah said.

The BCCI president will soon talk to Kapil Dev. It may be recalled that last Friday, the former India allrounder and present National coach had made some disparaging remarks about the Board's functioning. ``He seems to be disturbed and has given an emotional outburst. It's unlike him. He is usually confident,'' said Mr. Muthiah.

Kapil's remarks were discussed at the meeting here. ``The Board has authorised me to talk to Kapil Dev and take an appropriate decision,'' said Mr. Muthiah. ``I will meet him when I go to Delhi in the next few days,'' he said.

The BCCI's Code of Conduct has also specified that players and team officials will not be allowed to express views to the media. The captain and coach have the leeway of addressing pre and post match conferences while players chipping in with special performances need the manager's permission.

But with the following stipulations figuring in the Code of Conduct, players may well end up sporting Monalisa smiles.

The `silence please!' clauses are as follows: ``No player or team official shall be permitted to write or express his views to the media in India or abroad.''

``No players/team officials shall write, publish or assist any person to write, publish any book or articles in news papers, magazines, periodicals, journals.''

Nayudu award for Adhikari

The BCCI Awards Committee has chosen Col. Hemu Adhikari for the C.K. Nayudu award. ``A committee chaired by Board president A.C. Muthiah, along with members - Raj Singh Dungarpur, Kishore Rungta, Ramaswamy and Raiji, chose Col. Hemu Adhikari as the C.K. Nayudu award recipient,'' the BCCI secretary, Mr. J.Y. Lele told The Hindu here on Sunday. ``The award includes Rupees two lakh and a citation,'' he added.

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