Pakistan’s cricket-fixing scandal deepened on Wednesday as television footage apparently showed bookmaker Mazhar Majeed implicating another four Pakistani players during a crisis-hit tour of England.
Pakistan’s largest private television station, Geo, aired the footage late on Tuesday, apparently taken from a British tabloid sting operation during Pakistan’s fourth Test against England at Lord’s in August.
The News of the World report showed Majeed posing as a marketing agent and claiming that seven Pakistani players would obey his orders during matches.
In August, the newspaper named former Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Amir — all three provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
But the latest footage showed Majeed speaking to an undercover reporter and revealing the names of four other players.
Replying to a question, Majeed said: “I’ll tell you who we’ve got then. We’ve got Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt, Wahab Riaz … that’s six, yeah? Imran Farhat… that’s seven out of 11 players.”
In the footage, Majeed suggested he was thinking long-term.
“These boys are going to be around years and I’ve got the best boys and it’s long-term thinking.”
“Some players are not interested, like Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Saeed Ajmal, they are too religious.”
Crisis after crisis
The footage is likely to increase pressure on Pakistan cricket, plunged into crisis after crisis.
In October, the ICC told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take strict measures to curb corruption and otherwise threatened sanctions.
As a result, the PCB introduced a new code of conduct for players, with stricter punishments for any wrongdoing.
The PCB has not cleared Kamran, Shoaib Malik and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria — all reportedly under suspicions for corruption — for team selection.
Farhat was dropped over poor form, but Riaz and Umar Akmal were chosen in the Twenty20 and Test squads for this month’s tour of New Zealand.
Salman and Amir had appeals against their suspensions rejected last month, while Asif withdrew his appeal. The three players will appear before an ICC commission in Qatar in January to face the actual charges.
The PCB declined to make any comments on the latest footage. — AFP