Monday, May 15, 2000
The Hansie Cronjie Affair - You Don't Get Caught, if You Don't Confess
Man From Matunga"Man from Matunga" lives in Mumbai, India and expresses his angst and pleasures through words |
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I am surprised that you've even bothered to read this piece after seeing the title. I am pretty sure that those of you who are from cricket-playing nations are sick of this subject and the innumerable essays and viewpoints that have inundated newspapers, magazines and websites in the last two weeks. Plus you probably have your own strong feelings about the whole affair. But don't worry! I am not going to talk about the betting and the match-fixing and the now no longer "noble" game, nor am I going to indulge in any kind of breast-beating or preaching or a "holier-than-thou" attitude.
There's just one thing about the whole affair that intrigues me. Why did Cronjie confess!
For those who are not from cricket-playing nations, a brief synopsis. An Indian bookie arrested in New Delhi handed over taped telephonic conversations with Hansie Cronjie, the South African team captain, to the police. These conversations show that Cronjie took money to fix the outcome of some recent cricket matches. Cronjie initially denied all charges, but three-four days later came up with a confession where he said that he had received money for delivering information about the state of the pitch and the composition of the team, but he had not banked the money nor had he ever fixed a match.
Did Cronjie confess because
a) His conscience pricked him and he found that he could not live with himself?
b) The evidence against him was so solid that he knew he would get into trouble with more denials and thought it was more prudent to confess earlier?
c) He was forced by his family, colleagues?
d) He was plain stupid?
I don't know, but a) and d) together seem to be the best bet.
Think about it. He was accused of match-fixing in return for money and he denied the allegation vehemently. Based on the emphatic denial, the South African cricket board and the SA government backed him to the hilt. Many people even in India, including me thought he was being framed. He had the benefit of doubt and despite the evidence that the Delhi police might have had, he would have easily gotten away scot-free. Cronjie had so many advantages; he was considered a man of tremendous integrity, incorruptible and a pillar of the South African cricket team and society. Considering that fact that it is Indians and Pakistanis who are supposed to be corrupt and match-fixers and considering the credibility (lack of) that India enjoys in the world in terms of being honest and virtuous, it is very likely that Cronjie's denial would have been accepted at face value. Since it would have been virtually impossible to arrest him and since the SA government would not really have co-operated with the Delhi police, the whole issue would eventually have died down.
All he had to do was to keep quiet.
Instead Cronjie confessed and opened a Pandora's box. In one stroke, he turned into a liar and a cheat, he lost his place in the team and he lost a hell of a lot of money in cancelled endorsements and sponsorships.
Worse, his confession has made the Indians and Pakistanis look good and vindicated their accusation of being persecuted all the time by being constantly accused of malpractice and corruption. It is generally believed that the white cricket-playing nations, England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are straight and above-board, and that all the betting and match fixing occurs in the brown countries of India and Pakistan. This has been intuitively accepted by most people simply because India and Pakistan are more corrupt than England and Australia as far as daily living is concerned. I don't know where South Africa stands in the scheme of things and whether white v/s black is an issue in terms of who is supposed to be more corrupt. But what Cronjie's confession has done is to level the playing field. Now Indians and Pakistanis are not the only ones who are corrupt and corruptible, not the only ones indulging in match-fixing, not the only ones rolling in the mud. Everyone is in the muck together and the high, dry, moral ground is suddenly empty and unclaimed.
To put things in perspective; only twice have cricketers actually been caught in public for corrupt match-related practices. The first involved Australia and their bowling icon Shane Warne. Cronjie's is the second incident. With all their problems, Indian and Pakistani players have never officially been caught or punished, though there have been all kinds of allegations and inquiry commissions, etc. And in any case, no one has ever admitted to doing anything wrong and without incontrovertible proof, it is virtually impossible to nail anyone down.
Today in India, things have reached such a stage, that unless a person is under tremendous physical duress, nobody confesses to any wrongdoing. If I ask a car driver blocking my way, what his problem his, because he is driving through a one-way street from the opposite direction, the first thing he will do is to swear and shout at me, putting me on the defensive. The maxim in use is "offense is the best defense".
The general theory is that as long as you deny being wrong, you cannot be wrong.
This now happens in all walks of life. Children refuse to accept that they have lied, employees refuse to accept that they have made mistakes, car drivers refuse to accept that they have driven wrongly, politicians refuse to accept that they are corrupt and even if they do accept that they are corrupt, they refuse to accept that they have done anything wrong. In the same vein, Indian cricketers refuse to accept that they take money to fix matches, even though everyone knows this happens.
Moral of the story! If you never admit to a crime you will probably never get caught.
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