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By Marc Hasenfuss
National Sporting Index (NSI), a sports betting company listed on the JSE's venture capital board, was on Thursday fingered during testimony by Hansie Cronje, the disgraced South African cricket captain, at the King commission inquiry into match-fixing.
NSI, which listed in May 1999, had a number of personalities on its board, including commentator Martin Locke and former provincial cricketer Terence Lazard.
Cronje alleged he was called by a Marlin Aronstam, who said he was involved with NSI, during the fifth test against England at Centurion Park in mid-January.
Cronje alleged Aronstam offered R500 000 to a charity and an unspecified gift if the South African team sportingly declared its innings to make a game of the rain-marred test.
In an official statement NSI distanced itself from the alleged conduct between Aronstam and Cronje. "We want to dispel any suggestion that NSI has been involved in any aspect of 'match-rigging' or approaching any other professional sports person in order to obtain information concerning any sporting event."
Aronstam was employed during NSI's "start-up phase between September last year and March this year as 'head trader'".
Anton Mayberry, a spokesperson for NSI, said the company's relationship with Aronstam started dwindling and led to his formal resignation this year. "However, Aronstam was in our employ at the time of the alleged incident."
Earlier this year, in the wake of the match fixing allegations, NSI issued a notice to its shareholders that no accounts were owned or operated for the benefit of any sportsmen. NSI had also scrutinised betting activities on cricket matches over the past six months and declared that no extraordinary or large bets were requested for either the fixed odds or spread bet markets.
Mayberry said NSI had submitted its "field sheets" to the Gauteng Gambling Board for scrutiny. "Prior to the King commission we took it upon ourselves to investigate the match-fixing matter and the results showed we had actually lost R13 400 on the test match."
Trading patterns during the test match did not reflect anything suspicious and there was relatively little betting on the day.
Mayberry said NSI had spoken to Aronstam, who had denied using NSI in any of the alleged transactions.
National Sporting Index (NSI), a sports betting company listed on the JSE's venture capital board, was on Thursday fingered during testimony by Hansie Cronje, the disgraced South African cricket captain, at the King commission inquiry into match-fixing.
NSI, which listed in May 1999, had a number of personalities on its board, including commentator Martin Locke and former provincial cricketer Terence Lazard.
Cronje alleged he was called by a Marlin Aronstam, who said he was involved with NSI, during the fifth test against England at Centurion Park in mid-January.
Cronje alleged Aronstam offered R500 000 to a charity and an unspecified gift if the South African team sportingly declared its innings to make a game of the rain-marred test.
In an official statement NSI distanced itself from the alleged conduct between Aronstam and Cronje. "We want to dispel any suggestion that NSI has been involved in any aspect of 'match-rigging' or approaching any other professional sports person in order to obtain information concerning any sporting event."
Aronstam was employed during NSI's "start-up phase between September last year and March this year as 'head trader'".
Anton Mayberry, a spokesperson for NSI, said the company's relationship with Aronstam started dwindling and led to his formal resignation this year. "However, Aronstam was in our employ at the time of the alleged incident."
Earlier this year, in the wake of the match fixing allegations, NSI issued a notice to its shareholders that no accounts were owned or operated for the benefit of any sportsmen. NSI had also scrutinised betting activities on cricket matches over the past six months and declared that no extraordinary or large bets were requested for either the fixed odds or spread bet markets.
Mayberry said NSI had submitted its "field sheets" to the Gauteng Gambling Board for scrutiny. "Prior to the King commission we took it upon ourselves to investigate the match-fixing matter and the results showed we had actually lost R13 400 on the test match."
Trading patterns during the test match did not reflect anything suspicious and there was relatively little betting on the day.
Mayberry said NSI had spoken to Aronstam, who had denied using NSI in any of the alleged transactions.