Thaindian News

Islamabad, Sept 18 (ANI): Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan has refuted reports that he had written a letter of complaint to President Asif Zardari about the failure of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in effectively tackling the spot-fixing issue, which led to the suspension of three of their players.

“I have not spoken to anyone on this issue of spot-fixing, I have not said anything on it to anyone,” the Daily Times quoted Wajid, as saying.

The diplomat reacted angrily on the report in a Pakistani newspaper about his writing a letter to Zardari, and refused to speak further on the issue.

However, a reliable source in the sports ministry confirmed that there was some substance to the report. “I don’t know the details but yes something is going on behind the scenes about the performance of the board under chairman Ijaz Butt,” the source said.

The newspaper had reported that in his letter, Wajid had complained that the PCB officials “kept the diplomats unaware about the laws of ICC relating to alleged match-fixing” and “the PCB management has not guided the High Commission at any point.”

Pakistani cricketers- Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer- were left out of the squad for the two Twenty20 internationals at Cardiff and for the forthcoming five-match one-day series, prior to the ICC provisionally suspending them while their own investigation into the claims is ongoing.

While media reports suggest two other players Kamran Akmal and Salman were also notified by the ICC in a separate case of match-fixing, the Pakistan government has decided to conduct its own inquiry after receiving a report from Scotland Yard.

(ANI)