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Test playing nations 'meet' deferred
Jan 14, 2001, 20:30 Hrs (IST)

Johannesburg: The meeting of sports ministers from all the Test-playing countries, which South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour had proposed to host here in January, will now take place sometime later this year.

The main objective of the meeting is to find ways in which governments can deal with the issue of match-fixing, in the wake of investigations that have uncovered widespread involvement of leading cricketers. The meeting is now expected to take place before June, the sports minister's spokesman, Graham Abrahams, said. He said the meeting would also be looking at devising systems to prevent match-fixing in the future.

Abrahams also confirmed that Delhi Police officials wanted to come here to interrogate now banned South African skipper Hansie Cronje, but added that the Indian authorities had not yet made any official approach to the South African government.

The Delhi Police first blew the lid on Cronje's involvement with Indian bookmakers by revealing a tapped telephone conversation. This led to the constitution of the King Commission of Inquiry to probe cricket irregularities and the subsequent banning for life of Cronje by the United Cricket Board of South Africa. Cronje admitted at the commission to having accepted money from Indian and South African bookmakers.

India Abroad News Service