'Media reports not authentic'

India's federal investigators said on Monday they will present to the government this week an interim report into allegations of match-fixing.

"We will submit the report in two or three days," Central Bureau of Investigation spokesman S.M. Khan said.

"The report is quite elaborate," he said without giving further details.

Asked to comment on Indian media reports that Indian players had been named in the report, Khan said: "It is not authentic."

Sports minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said last Thursday he would seek legal opinion before deciding on any action.

"I'll read the report. I will also get it legally examined," he said, adding the report would be officially released during the winter session of parliament in November.

The CBI probe began in May, a month after a worldwide scandal erupted following the sacking of South African captain Hansie Cronje.

The Indian probe was ordered after Delhi police in April charged four South African cricketers, including Cronje, with "cheating, fraud and criminal controversy" in connection with a one-day series held in March.

Cronje, who denied fixing matches, later admitted taking money from bookmakers in exchange for information.

He was banned from the game for life by the United Cricket Board of South Africa but has since begun a legal process to challenge the UCBSA ban.

Mail Cricket Editor