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Pakistan taking legal advice on fixing allegations
PCB chief said he was taking legal advice on how to tackle accusations of match fixing after suspicion fell on the national team.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: August 06, 2009 04:19 PM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Lahore:
Pakistan's cricket chief said on Thursday he was taking legal advice on how to tackle accusations of match fixing after suspicion fell on the national team after recent heavy defeats in Sri Lanka.
"We are discussing the matter with our lawyers on how some senior players came up with allegations without any proof. This is not on and not acceptable," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said.
Butt spoke two days after former leg-spinner and recently-resigned chief selector Abdul Qadir raised suspicions that Pakistan players may be involved in wrongdoing after the team's surprise defeats in the Tests and one-day series.
"After following the series I suspect some players could be involved in match fixing and if a high-level inquiry is done everything will become crystal clear," Qadir was quoted as saying in the media.
Pakistan lost a three-Test series to Sri Lanka 2-0, with the third Test ending in a draw, and handed an unbeatable 3-0 lead to the hosts in the five-match one-day series.
The defeats followed Pakistan's convincing victory over Sri Lanka in the final of the World Twenty20 championship in June at Lords.
The team came under suspicion after a report in Pakistan's leading Urdu daily Express alleged that bookmakers were trying to make contact with players in their Colombo hotel during the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed rubbished allegations of match fixing but confirmed the presence of some people who tried to approach players in the team hotel.
The PCB last week said it reported the matter to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"We are discussing how to tackle the accusers who made allegations because they are disgruntled," said Butt. He did not explicitly name Qadir, who resigned in June, citing interference from the PCB and team management.
Butt last week confirmed reports of "unwanted people" in the Pakistan team's hotel in Sri Lanka.
"We got some reports and the team management changed floors in the hotel," Butt told a committee of Pakistan's upper house of parliament or Senate.
Match fixing and betting allegations have rocked the cricket world, and Pakistan in particular, forcing the ICC to form ACSU in 2000.
Australian trio Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Pakistan's then captain Salim Malik offered them bribes to underperform during their tour of Pakistan in 1995.
A one-man commission absolved Malik initially, but a judicial inquiry ended in life bans on Malik and paceman Ata-ur-Rehman.
Six other players -- Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Akram Raza -- were fined.
![](https://s.ndtvimg.com/images/misc/fullImage/ver1/p/pcb-logo.jpg)
"We are discussing the matter with our lawyers on how some senior players came up with allegations without any proof. This is not on and not acceptable," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said.
Butt spoke two days after former leg-spinner and recently-resigned chief selector Abdul Qadir raised suspicions that Pakistan players may be involved in wrongdoing after the team's surprise defeats in the Tests and one-day series.
"After following the series I suspect some players could be involved in match fixing and if a high-level inquiry is done everything will become crystal clear," Qadir was quoted as saying in the media.
Pakistan lost a three-Test series to Sri Lanka 2-0, with the third Test ending in a draw, and handed an unbeatable 3-0 lead to the hosts in the five-match one-day series.
The defeats followed Pakistan's convincing victory over Sri Lanka in the final of the World Twenty20 championship in June at Lords.
The team came under suspicion after a report in Pakistan's leading Urdu daily Express alleged that bookmakers were trying to make contact with players in their Colombo hotel during the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed rubbished allegations of match fixing but confirmed the presence of some people who tried to approach players in the team hotel.
The PCB last week said it reported the matter to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"We are discussing how to tackle the accusers who made allegations because they are disgruntled," said Butt. He did not explicitly name Qadir, who resigned in June, citing interference from the PCB and team management.
Butt last week confirmed reports of "unwanted people" in the Pakistan team's hotel in Sri Lanka.
"We got some reports and the team management changed floors in the hotel," Butt told a committee of Pakistan's upper house of parliament or Senate.
Match fixing and betting allegations have rocked the cricket world, and Pakistan in particular, forcing the ICC to form ACSU in 2000.
Australian trio Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Pakistan's then captain Salim Malik offered them bribes to underperform during their tour of Pakistan in 1995.
A one-man commission absolved Malik initially, but a judicial inquiry ended in life bans on Malik and paceman Ata-ur-Rehman.
Six other players -- Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Akram Raza -- were fined.
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