A New Delhi court has revealed some shocking facts related to the infamous match-fixing scandal that rocked and tarnished men’s sport in 2000. The court has also filed charges against four people, accusing them of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The match-fixing took place during South Africa’s tour of India and one of the main accused was former Proteas captain Hansie Cronje. Apart from Cronje, former South African cricketers Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom were also implicated in the scandal.

During the hearing, the court stated that some matches in the India-South Africa Test and ODI series were fixed, and that there were attempts to fix other matches as well. The match-fixing scandal took place during the two Tests and five ODIs between February 19 and March 19.

Delhi Court on 2000 match-fixing scandal:

The court revealed the details of the recorded conversation between Cronje and London-based bookmaker Sanjeev Chawla. In 2000, the Delhi police had managed to get hold of the recording of the conversation between Cronje and Chawla by intercepting the calls.

Referring to the conversation recorded before the fifth and final ODI between India and South Africa, the tribunal observed that “it is evident that Hansie Cronje had agreed to fix the score of the match, and he had also agreed to fix the individual score of Herschelle Gibbs.

“He had also talked to Williams about giving him more than 50 runs in his 10 overs. They were both promised $15,000 each.

“Although the players forgot about the agreement in the heat of the match and did not play according to the agreed terms, it can be concluded that a serious attempt was made to fix the match.

“It appears from the recorded conversations that large amounts of foreign exchange were also exchanged between the accused through hawala transactions for onward payments to the South African members who were part of the criminal conspiracy,” the court added.

The 2000 match-fixing episode is one of the biggest scandals in the sport that completely shook the cricket community. Cronje was sacked as South Africa captain and banned for life before tragically passing away in a plane crash.

On the other hand, Chawla was extradited to India in 2000. Later in 2013, the Delhi Police filed a case in the match-fixing scandal and the accusation included several South African cricketers including Cronje.