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Fleming reveals match-fix offer

Mister Wright

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Fleming reveals match-fix offer

Fleming reveals match-fix offer
From correspondents in Wellington
November 7, 2004

NEW ZEALAND cricket captain Stephen Fleming claims he was offered £200,000 ($486,000) during the 1999 World Cup to join a match-fixing syndicate which hinted at links to prominent sportsmen.

He details the incident in his new book "Balance Of Power", reviewed today by the New Zealand Press Association.

Fleming says he was approached in the bar of the team's hotel in the English city of Leicester during the 1999 World Cup by a man later identified as sports promoter Aushim Khetrapal, an associate of notorious Indian bookmaker Sanjeev Chawla.

"He said 'If you want to know where the real money is, it's in the syndicate that's going on around the world right now, speculating on the likelihood of certain results or occurrences'," Fleming writes.

Khetrapal, according to Fleming, said top sportsmen were involved, including those in English soccer and in tennis.

Fleming said Khetrapal claimed there were people all over the world whom he could call at certain times and offered him the chance to join the syndicate.

"He'd pay me 200,000 pounds straight up, then another 100,000 pounds in a year's time," Fleming wrote.

"I remember looking at the numbers he'd written down and saying, 'Look, I don't think we should be talking about this. I don't really want to be part of this at all'."

Fleming said he informed the team management of the approach and later gave a statement to Scotland Yard detectives.

Agence France-Presse
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
I am not surprised by any of this. Khetarpal's name has come up many times before.

Just look at the sums being offered. Whom are we trying to fool except ourselves when we allow 'confessing' cricketers get away with talking of piddly amounts.
 

shaka

International Regular
I am glad that Fleming did not take the money, and give in, unlike the other former captains of the cricketing world in the past.\
However one has to wonder why nothing ever happens to the bookie themselves.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
shaka said:
I am glad that Fleming did not take the money, and give in, unlike the other former captains of the cricketing world in the past.\
However one has to wonder why nothing ever happens to the bookie themselves.
....and also why so many of the players wait so long (till they need masala for their to-be-published book) before bringing out the skeletons.

Dont make money from the deal offered by the bookie at that time...make money from the deal offered by the bookie later !! :gossip:

PS Masala is Hindi for spice
 

Macka

U19 Vice-Captain
Seems very convenient Fleming is back in NZ 'resting' for the summer while his book has just been released...
 

Sudeep

International Captain
SJS said:
....and also why so many of the players wait so long (till they need masala for their to-be-published book) before bringing out the skeletons.

PS Masala is Hindi for spice
IMO as long as he went to the NZ board and the Scotland Yard with it, doesn't matter if he didn't make it public.
 

Mister Wright

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Sudeep said:
IMO as long as he went to the NZ board and the Scotland Yard with it, doesn't matter if he didn't make it public.

Exactly. I don't think Fleming did anything wrong in this circumstance.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
shaka said:
I am glad that Fleming did not take the money, and give in, unlike the other former captains of the cricketing world in the past.\
However one has to wonder why nothing ever happens to the bookie themselves.
If their is a bank robbery in Mumbai this November and I disclose to the police in 2010 that I was aware that there is going to be a bank robbery and was in fact asked to be a part of the gang but struck by 'moralitis', I refused , are they going to believe it ?

I think it might not be a bad idea for Khetarpal and his buddies to come forward and say that 'You know, we offered all this money last decade, to these cricketers for match fixing but all of them refused so we finally went and told our partners this isnt going to work and went back to our 5 to 9 , oops, 9 to 5 jobs."
Sure the gullible millions will believe it, dont you think.
 

Sudeep

International Captain
SJS said:
If their is a bank robbery in Mumbai this November and I disclose to the police in 2010 that I was aware that there is going to be a bank robbery and was in fact asked to be a part of the gang but struck by 'moralitis', I refused , are they going to believe it ?
Actually, I think the article suggests that Fleming went to the NZ board immediately, following which he gave a statement to Scotland Yard, probably on the board's advice. It's only that Fleming has revealed it to the general public only now, not that he's waited this long to disclose it to authorities.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Sudeep said:
Actually, I think the article suggests that Fleming went to the NZ board immediately, following which he gave a statement to Scotland Yard, probably on the board's advice. It's only that Fleming has revealed it to the general public only now, not that he's waited this long to disclose it to authorities.
Ok. I stand corrected in that case.
:p
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
This has been known for sometime anyway. It was revealed around 2 years ago that Fleming had been approached & that he had immediately reported the situation to John Graham.

But now that Fleming has written a book, more information has been shed.
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
Well I was just saying i've known about this for at least 2 years...but all I knew was that Fleming was approached in 1999 & that he reported the incident immediately to his team manager.

Now that he's written a book, more information is coming out.
 

SquidAU

First Class Debutant
Nothing wrong with what Fleming did. But after reading that article, it goes to show that there is more than just a game being played out there, in ALL sports.....
 

shaka

International Regular
the bookmaker is thinking about sueing Fleming for defamation, but imo he will not.
 

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