Butt, Younus, Alam to attend match-fixing hearing

Karachi:

PCB chairman Ejaz Butt and captain Younus Khan and coach Intikhab Alam will appear before the National Assembly standing committee on sports on Tuesday to respond to the match-fixing allegations labeled against them during the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The hearing to take place in Islamabad is expected to generate some fireworks after the committee chairman Jamshed Dasti shocked everyone by alleging that he had some evidence that Pakistan might have been involved in match fixing.

Dasti later retracted from his statement, insisting he was misunderstood and misquoted.

His comments have drawn sharp criticism from Younus and other players and sources said Dasti and committee members could face a hard time from the Pakistan captain and Cricket Board Butt, who are upset at the way the allegations were made against the national team.

Butt said he would be attending the hearing as the National Assembly committee was authorised to ask the PCB about anything.

"It is a government body and it can call us anytime, we also want to attend the hearing and clear misunderstandings the committee members might have about the performance of the team," Butt stated.

Younus and Intikhab have also confirmed that they will be attending the hearing.

Younus said he had decided to attend the hearing as he wanted to clarify doubts about the performance of the team. "The fact is that when we won the T20 World Cup the whole nation including the government feted us. So if anyone is disappointed with our performance in the Champions Trophy they can ask the reasons for it from us," Younus said.

The allegations made by Dasti caused an uproar in the country and Dasti is expected to be forced to explain his position at the hearing.

Dasti has openly and publicly called for the sacking of Butt as he has accused him of not being fit to lead the PCB.