Cricket SA defends its integrity as match-fixing scandal resurfaces
Former Proteas wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, who was found guilty, has claimed that certain white players avoided investigation when a number of cricketers were banned for their involvement in corruption in 2015.
Haroon Lorgat (former CSA chief executive) and Judge Bernard Ngoepe (independent chairperson of the CSA Anti-Corruption Unit) addressing the media after the match-fixing investigation. Picture: Gallo Images
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has defended the integrity of its 2015 match-fixing investigation that rocked the sport.
A number of players, including Thami Tsolekile and Gulam Bodi , were heavily implicated in fixing related to the 2015 Ram Slam domestic T20 competition and banned after an investigation.
Bodi was identified as the mastermind behind the operation while other players including Jean Symes, Ethy Mbhalati and Pumelela Matshikwe were also banned.
This week, in an interview with Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide , Tsolekile brought the case into the spotlight once more.
Among the multiple allegations he made, he suggested that certain white players had escaped investigation despite also being involved in the scandal.
According to Tsolekile, who was given a 12-year ban, Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Robbie Frylinck had also been approached by Bodi in 2015 without reporting it to authorities.
“For the last five years, my financial earnings have been cut. Vaughn, for the last five years, has been earning a salary,” Tsolekile said on Marawa’s show.
“Frylinck was also involved in this. He did a game in the Champions League Twenty20, according to Bodi. But Frylinck, as an ex-Proteas player, he is still playing and I am not.”
Thami Tsolekile during a match for the Highveld Lions in 2015. Picture: Gallo Images
According to CSA, however, the potential involvement of Van Jaarsveld and Frylinck had been investigated and, based on allegations that were made, they were cleared of any wrongdoing.
“The allegation that the investigation deliberately targeted black players must be rejected,” said retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe, who led the match-fixing investigation by the CSA Anti-Corruption Unit.
“Both white and black players were investigated and charged, based on the evidence that was collected and presented.”
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