Condon can prevent Hamid "Banjo" Cassim from attending WC matches
Mumbai: "What you want to know about Mohammed Hamid "Banjo" Cassim and why ?", the former administrator of United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA)- (now known as Cricket South Africa (CSA)) enquired before taking any question from us.
"No, no..he (Hamid Cassim) was not banned for the 2003 World Cup matches", the Johannesburg-based Dr. Bacher said from Cape Town's Cullinan Hotel room. "And I am unaware whether he arrived to witness any matches then", he added. Dr. Ali Bacher, who turns 67 on Sunday, successfully hosted the World Cup in South Africa in 2003.
A key figure in the 2000 match-fixing scandal that rocked world cricket, Hamid 'Banjo' Cassim was spotted during the recent IPL matches at Wanderers.
"I don't know him and have never seen him or spoken to him over telephone", Dr. Ali Bacher insisted.
His name had appeared out of nowhere.Cassim's journey has been a long one. He lost his father at 16 and left school, doing various jobs to get by before joining his brother to run a snack shop. Married and a father of three, Cassim then worked alternately as a store manager and helped in his cousin's pharmaceutical business before opening an electronics shops in 1994 and then the famous Sweet Junction. In the summer of 2000 life suddenly got bitter.
No sources could confirm whether the Bitlog-man went to West Indies for the next Wolrd Cup (2007). "The ICC, though being the highest governing body of the game, can not put him on ECL (Exit Control List) unless criminal /s is / are being on "wanted" list", the CBI sources said to this scribe. "But yes, Lord Condon, the Chairman of the ICC's Anti-corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), can certainly utilise his influence to ensure he / they is/ are denied UK visas for the Twenty20 World Cup to be played next month". Lord Condon was a Commissioner of Metropolitan Police (1993–2000) in UK.
"We do not comment on the activities of the ACSU. The members of the ACSU, including Mr Sawani, do not give interviews or respond directly to media queries", James Fitzgerald, the ICC media official insisted from Dubai.
