I AM NO BOOKMAKER BUT A FRIEND TO SAMUELS SAYS MUKESH KOCHAR

Kochar denies charges, says he is willing to cooperate

 

DUBAI, Feb 9: Mukesh Kochar, who finds himself at the centre of a potential match-fixing scandal for extracting information on team composition from West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels, on Friday strongly denied that he was a bookie and said he was willing to cooperate in the investigations.

Describing himself as a "plain cricket lover", Kochar said he was a businessman by profession and had known Samuels as a friend for a long time.

"I am not a bookie but a plain lover of the game. The allegations of match-fixing are baseless. I have known Samuels only as a friend. He is like a son," Kochar said.

Kochar, who has a foodstuff business here, explained that he had first met Samuels in Sharjah several years ago and has remained in touch since then.

Kochar said he was willing to extend full cooperation if the Indian authorities needed help in carrying out the match-fixing investigations. "I will extend all help in this regard", he said.

He said he did not know anyone in the West Indies team other than Samuels. "I've called him at times. But we did not discuss anything on the match. I spoke to him at a personal level, to encourage him. I'm not a bookie but a businessman", he said.

On charges of his links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, Kochar's lawyer clarified that his client did not have any commercial dealing or had never acted on behalf of the underworld in any case.

The Nagpur Police created a flutter in cricket circles with a sensational disclosure of a tapped telephonic conversation between Samuels and Kochar in which the cricketer gave out information on team composition ahead of India-West Indies

:: www.indiantimes.com