Thaindian News

By Awais Saleem
Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS) Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik Tuesday said the government will take strong action against the cricketers found involved in spot-fixing.

Four players of the current Pakistan squad — skipper Salman Butt, vice-captain Kamran Akmal and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Muhammad Amir — have been accused of spot-fixing by British tabloid News of the World. The paper’s reporter, in a sting operation with an alleged British fixer Mazhar Majeed, paid him 150,000 pounds for spot-fixing.

Asif and Amir allegedly bowled no-balls after taking money from the bookmaker and the events in the match turned out exactly the way Majeed predicted. Scotland Yard raided the team hotel in London following the expose and the players as well as the team officials were questioned.

Addressing the media with Minister for Sports Ijaz Jakhrani here Tuesday, Malik said a team of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sleuths will be dispatched to London to collect the facts if needed.

“The match fixing scandal has taken place in England and investigations are under way there. The government will carry out further investigations once the inquiry by the Scotland Yard comes to an end.”

The interior minister expressed his disappointment over the incident but cautioned that “it would not be appropriate to propagate against the Pakistani team unless everything is probed.”

He called upon the media to stop giving a bad name to the team and the players. “Nothing has been proven as yet,” he said.

“We are looking into all the possible angles because this could also be a conspiracy against the country. Fake videos can also be made to malign somebody because anything is possible in this age of technology.”

Jakhrani said the incident was a blow to Pakistan cricket and the millions of fans who loved the game.

“No player has been charge sheeted as yet,” he said, adding that the government was keeping a close eye on the proceedings in Britain.