Sports Ministry summons tainted cricketers

Onkar Singh

The Ministry of Sports has asked Ajay Jadeja, Mohammad Azharuddin and Manoj Prabhakar to appear before the joint secretary of sports on January 8, 9 and 10 respectively to explain why the Arjuna award bestowed on them should not be revoked following the Board of Control for Cricket in India's action against them for their alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

"We sent them notices more than 15 days back and had asked them to send anything in writing they wanted to defend themselves before they appear before us to explain their conduct. But so far not a single player has chosen to send his explanation in writing," J P Singh, joint secretary in the Ministry of Sports, told rediff.com.

Sports Ministry officials are keeping their fingers crossed. "We do not even know whether they will appear before the concerned joint secretary or not. We have not heard from them so far. So, as of today, we can only tell you that we have called them; whether they would come or not is entirely up to them," said an official of the ministry.

What would the ministry do just in case the players decide not to come?

"I wish I could answer this question. We will cross the bridge when we come to it. If that happens, as you say, then we will discuss the matter with the minister, Ms Bharti, and take action accordingly," he said.

According to insiders, the Ministry of Sports was forced to resort to revoking the Arjuna awards as it felt that after the BCCI had taken stringent action against the guilty players, people would want to know what action the government has taken against the players. This, many believe, forced Ms Bharti to declare that the government is considering withdrawing the Arjuna awards given to the tainted players.

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