Alec Stewart cleared

Shyam Bhatia,
India Abroad correspondent in London.

Former England cricket captain Alec Stewart has been cleared of the allegations that he accepted money from bookmaker Mukesh Gupta for information regarding the pitch and weather conditions in India in 1993.

The inquiry into the allegations against Stewart was headed by the International Cricket Council's anti corruption unit (ACU) chief Lord Paul Condon.

The decision to clear Stewart was made in a statement to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) from Gerard Elias, QC, chairman of the ECB's discipline standing committee.

The statement has been accepted by ECB chairman by Lord MacLaurin.

"Lord Condon's anti-corruption unit has undertaken a very thorough investigation into the allegations made against Alec Stewart and has concluded that there exists no substantive evidence justifying proceedings against Alec in relation to this matter", Lord MacLaurin said on Wednesday afternoon in London (today)

"The matter is therefore closed."

Stewart is among a group of leading cricketers implicated in a report published last year by the CBI when it was alleged that he accepted £5,000 for providing information during England's 1993 tour to India.

The allegations first surfaced last November during England's tour of Pakistan. Stewart strongly protested his innocence and said he was "totally shocked" to hear his name was on the CBI's 162-page document.

He was earlier interviewed in Pakistan by Lord MacLaurin who publicly declared his belief that Stewart was innocent. Last month after a gap of several months Stewart was finally interviewed by the Condon team to whom he provided details of his bank account.

Last month Condon said the case for proceeding against Stewart would depend on Gupta' s willingness to make a sworn statement backing up his allegations. But when Gupta refused to assist the Condon inquiry by corroborating his original allegations, it was clear the case against Stewart would be dropped.

The five players have been banned for life since the match-fixing scandal emerged are Hansie Cronje, Salim Malik, Ata-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma.

Condon's ACU is still looking into the cases of West Indian Brian Lara, Mark Waugh of Australia, New Zealand's Martin Crowe and Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravainda de Silva of Sri Lanka.

Statement from Gerard Elias QC, Chairman, Discipline Standing Committee:

1. On Friday 6 July, I received a confidential Report from Lord Condon, Head of the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU), relating to an investigation into an allegation made against Alec Stewart, that in 1993 he had received money from an Indian bookmaker for providing material information about a match or series of matches then taking place.

2. The allegation, originally made to the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which received considerable publicity after it was published on the internet in November 2000, was immediately denied through the media by Alec Stewart and categorically rejected by him in two telephone interviews (when the allegations surfaced he was abroad) conducted by the ECB's (the Board) Chairman and Chief Executive.

3. The ACU, at the request of the ECB, then began a painstaking inquiry into the matter.

Their essential aim was to ascertain whether evidence existed to substantiate or support the allegation against Mr Stewart and, if it did, to bring it forward or make it available for the Board to use in taking any appropriate action against him, through its disciplinary procedures.

4. The result of the ACU inquiry may be summarised as follows:
(i) The original maker of the allegation (MK Gupta) declines to make a statement to, or assist the ACU in any way, or to appear at any disciplinary hearing (whether in person or by video link) to make or substantiate his claim;

(ii) No independent evidence confirming, supporting or corroborating the allegation has been found by the ACU which could be brought forward to any disciplinary hearing;

(iii) In a recent interview with the ACU, Mr Stewart repeated his categorical denials of any receipt of money as alleged;

(iv)Mr Stewart has made available to the ACU his financial records for the period in question.

5. The Board's Discipline Committee can give little credence to allegations which the maker is unwilling or unable to substantiate - natural justice rightly demands that we act upon the basis of admissible evidence which can be tested by an assessment of the witness, particularly under cross examination.

In these circumstances, the assertion of the Indian bookmaker, untested and unable to be tested, being the only source of allegation against him, it follows that there exists no substantive evidence justifying proceedings against Alec Stewart in relation to this matter.

6.I desire to add two further comments:
(i) I express satisfaction that the matter has been exhaustively examined and that the "international dimension" to the enquiries, which would not have been within the jurisdiction of the Board to investigate, has been pursued with all vigour.

(ii) It is appropriate to use this opportunity to reiterate the Discipline Committee's absolute determination to root out any element of corruption within the game in the United Kingdom, and to bring forward any admissible evidence which is brought to its attention for full and proper examination.

Anyone found to have been involved in corrupt practices will inevitably face the most severe penalties.

Gerard Elias QC, 11th July 2001