| "A "high-profile" Australian cricketer is alleged to have participated in fixing Indian Premier League matches last year, according to details uncovered by India's tax department. The tax office investigation has already claimed one victim, with IPL boss Lalit Modi suspended by BCCI just hours after the final of a tournament he built into a multi-billion-dollar industry. And now it may bring down up to 27 players believed to be caught up in match-fixing during the 2009 instalment of the IPL, played in South Africa because of security fears in India." In global terms, the gravest allegations come from a report the tax department sent to the finance ministry in which it said last year's IPL saw 27 cricketers and one official involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing, in which specific elements of games are manipulated. It added that match-fixing and betting had "scaled new heights", with some leading Indian players and a "famous" Australian alleged to be among the 27. A source close to the players, who was in South Africa, confirmed there was plenty of talk about approaches from illegal bookmakers and said there had been "too much smoke" for there not to be some fire. "There were a lot of rumours, particularly in and around the opening matches in Cape Town," he said. |