Match-fixing allegations rock series

Yawar Saeed

KARACHI (IANS): The menace of match-fixing reared its ugly head again with media reports claiming that Pakistan cricketers were approached by bookmakers in Colombo during the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka.

Some unidentified Indian bookies approached several Pakistan players during the second and third Tests against Sri Lanka in Colombo earlier this week, claimed Express, an Urdu newspaper.
Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan team manager, was quoted as saying by the newspaper that the incidents did happen but the team management took appropriate steps to erase any chances of further contacts between the players and the bookies.

‘Yes we were told by some of the players that a few suspicious people approached them during the Colombo Tests,’ Yawar was quoted as saying in the report.

‘We lodged a complaint with the hotel management and they immediately shifted all of us to another floor of the hotel,’ he added.

Yawar further said the players have been strictly told to avoid such people and if anybody approaches them they should immediately inform the team management about it.

According to details, the alleged ‘Indian’ bookies contacted the players during the second and third Test matches in Colombo, inviting them for lunches and dinners.

According to Yawar, they were Mumbai-based bookies who probably are ‘in action again to try and get matches fixed’.

The report has added fuel to suspicions of foul-play in Pakistan’s 0-2 defeat in the Test series against Sri Lanka. Pakistan lost the first two Tests - in Galle and Colombo - from seemingly winning positions and then failed to win the final one in Colombo despite having the upper hand. The third match ended in a draw.

Pakistan cricket was hit hard by allegations of match-fixing in the mid-1990s and resulted in a life ban on former captain Saleem Malik and fines on several other players.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has refused to comment on reports that (team manager) Yawar Saeed had complained about the presence of suspected Indian bookies in a Sri Lankan hotel where the team was staying during the Test series.

In another report coming through former PCB Chairman Lt General (Retd) Tauqir Zia and former chief selector Abdul Qadir have demanded an inquiry into the presence of some Indians on the same floor where the Pakistan team was staying in a Colombo hotel as rumors about possible match-fixing continued.

Qadir noted that it was strange that captain, Younis Khan and manager Yawar Saeed were giving contradictory statements on the issue.

"Younis is saying something else and Yawar the opposite which itself is suspicious to me. The board must hold an inquiry and find out the facts of this whole incident," Qadir said.

What is now confirmed is that they were at least five Indian nationals staying on the same floor as the players and that two of them are said to have a history of being associated with cricket betting," one source said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt has admitted that some Indians were sharing the same floor with the Pakistan team but said the Indians were shifted to another floor after the Pakistan team manager pointed it out to hotel authorities."Our team manager drew the attention of the hotel management to this (presence of Indians) and they shifted those Indian nationals to another floor," Butt told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports.

The International Cricket Council made it clear it did not want to comment on issues concerning its Anti Corruption Unit but conceded the ACU was aware of the incident.

The source said the ACU security officer in India, Ravi Sawami, is looking into the incident in Sri Lanka since ICC regulation doesn't encourage players to mingle with strangers on tours and during series