Spot Fixing

Pakistani senators have called on the International Cricket Council to explore the alleged links between the Indian bookmakers and the international cricket players. The Senators blamed the alleged Indian betting mafia for the recent spot-fixing scandal involving three Pakistani cricketers in Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer, who have been banned for different periods by the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal.

“Even Mazhar Majeed has admitted of the involvement of Indian bookies in such illegal activities and their attempts to corrupt players. The ICC should now also make their investigations into spot-fixing scandal wide based and include Indian connections as well,” senator Ghaffar Qureshi, who heads the senate standing committee on sports told reporters after a meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board officials.

Senator Haroon Akhtar said it was necessary to expose the role of Indian bookies in corruption in cricket. The Senators were briefed by the PCB on the recent spot-fixing scandal involving the Pakistani trio and the captaincy controversy before the World Cup and other cricket related issues, including the government report on the militants attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009.

Senator Qureshi said that the committee was disappointed at the failure of the authorities to take action against the police officials who were blamed for negligence on duty, which led to the attack on the Sri Lankan team.

“At our next meeting we will summon the IG police, home secretary, interior secretary Punjab and the federal interior secretary to sort out this issue. Those responsible for negligence must be punished,” he said. He said the PCB had also briefed the committee on the issue of wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider fleeing to England and seeking asylum there.

“We have been told that when the board contacted Zulqarnain, he said he was no longer interested in playing cricket. This is an unfortunate incident and we will speak to the foreign ministry to ensure such incidents do not take place in the future,” he said.

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad also had earlier urged the three banned players to co-operate with the cricket board to expose the mafia behind the spot-fixing scandal in international cricket.

Tags: Cricket Players, ICC, ICC Cricketer of the Year, Indian Bookies, International Cricket Council, Muhammad Aamer, Muhammad Asif, Pakistan, Salman Butt, Senators