All indications are that the Indian justice department will act ruthlessly if South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje and some of the players are extradited to stand trial in India on charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and match-fixing.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) views allegations of betting and match-fixing with extreme seriousness. So serious, in fact, that the former chief justice of India, Yashwant Vishnu Chandrachud, has been appointed to probe these crimes.
Cronje stands at the foot of an uphill legal battle with severe consequences after he admitted on Tuesday he was "not entirely honest" regarding allegations that he had "fixed matches" in the recent India-South Africa cricket series.
But, what sets Cronje's case apart from others is that he admitted he had been dishonest.
Last Friday, New Delhi additional police Commissioner KK Paul said that charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and match-fixing had been registered against Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom.
"We will seek the help of Interpol as a huge, international crime has been committed," he said.
However, Cronje claimed in a nine-page letter, in which he admitted dishonesty to his friend and confidante, Rhema Church head Ray McCauley, that Gibbs, Boje and Strydom were not involved.
As South Africa does not have an extradition treaty with India, President Thabo Mbeki would have the final say if India asked for Cronje and the others to be extradited, said the department of foreign affairs on Tuesday.
"Where South Africa has no extradition treaty with a country - as in this case - the president has the legal authority to hand over citizens for a foreign trial," said spokesperson Themba Ngculu.
Such a decision would have to be preceded by prima facie evidence of wrongdoing by the individuals concerned.
Ngculu said if the Indian authorities wanted the players to be tried there, a request would have to be lodged through the departments of foreign affairs and justice. "It's a lengthy and complicated process."
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad on Monday pledged South Africa's full co-operation with India to get to the bottom of the matter.
"We will not protect individuals if there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing," he said.
A Unisa professor in international law, Neville Botha, said if Mbeki agreed to hand over the players, they would have no legal recourse.
"The Constitutional Court recently overturned a challenge to Section 32 of the Extradition Act which empowers the president to authorise extradition in the absence of a treaty," he said.
He said Mbeki would, among other considerations, have to look at the seriousness of the alleged crime.
The United Cricket Board announced on Tuesday that Cronje's contract had been suspended, and that Judge Albie Sachs, a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), would be asked to head a commission of inquiry in to the allegations.
However, in all likelihood, South African authorities will not prosecute Cronje or his teammates, according to Sipho Ngwema, spokesperson for the office of the national director of public prosecutions.
Ngwema said South Africa had no jurisdiction over alleged crimes which occurred in India.
If Cronje is found guilty of the criminal charges in India, in all likelihood he will never represent South Africa as captain or player in international cricket fixtures again.
The ICC and football's world governing body, Fifa, have not been shy in slapping life bans on players involved in match-fixing.
During the Pakistani match-rigging scandal, in which Australian cricketers Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Salim Malik had offered them $100 000 (about R660 000) to throw a Test match in 1994 by "bowling badly", an ICC source indicated that a life ban would be within reason if the players were found guilty.
Former Pakistani captains Malik and Wasim Akram were at the centre of a judicial commission of inquiry probing betting and match-fixing charges against top players.
Fifa banned footballer Abbas Saad for life in June 1995, when he was found guilty of being part of a conspiracy to fix the results of soccer matches in the 1994 Malaysian League.
However, Fifa lifted the ban on compassionate grounds, because Saad "had suffered enough" and he had not received any money for his part in the conspiracy. He was let off the hook with a $50 000 fine.