OWN CORRESPONDENT, New Delhi | Saturday 4.00pm
CRICKET chief Ali Bacher has said he never blamed Pakistan for fixing World Cup matches, said a senior Pakistani official.
Bacher has clarified to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) he did not mention the name of any country or umpire while telling Australian newspapers on April 19 that a few World Cup matches were fixed.
The PCB official said from Lahore that Bacher had written a letter to the board apologising for the misunderstanding.
“Somebody has played mischief in the whole affair,” Bacher was quoted as saying in the letter.
“In my interview I never mentioned the name of any country or individual umpire as mentioned by the papers.
“I am sorry if the misquoted news has harmed the feelings of any individual,” Bacher states in the letter.
Bacher was quoted by Australian newspapers as saying that two matches in the 1999 World Cup in England, one in which minnows Bangladesh upset eventual runners-up Pakistan, were fixed.
Bacher was also reported to have expressed suspicions about Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar over his nine leg-before verdicts against South Africa during the Headingley Test against England in 1998.
Pakistan and Akhtar reacted angrily to the charges, saying Bacher should substantiate his claims before the emergency meeting of the International Cricket Council’s executive board in London on May 2-3.
ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya also wanted a retraction from Bacher, saying he “will otherwise have to explain why he went public with his allegation”.
The pandora’s box of match fixing and betting in cricket reopened on April 7 when South African captain Hansie Cronje and three fellow players were charged by Indian police for their involvement with bookies during the one-day series against India last month.
Cronje was subsequently sacked as captain after he admitted to taking $8200 for providing match information and forecasting results during an earlier tri-series in South Africa. — AFP