***Official*** Spot-Fixing Scandal

[G.I.Joe]

US $ 3 million has got to be either a typo or exaggeration.

 

[PhoenixFire]

This is a government that spent many years proclaiming the evil of AIDS vaccination, isn't it?

Yup and that's one of the most disgusting episodes of recent human history that seems to have been swept under the carpet by everyone..

 

[Jamee999]

Maybe Mexico could replace Pakistan for the ODIs.

 

[Sanz]

I read the article below by Geoff Lawson and was astonished by the bolded part.

Easy to overstep the mark when players' families' lives are at stake
Geoff Lawson
August 31, 2010

People have been quick to judge the Pakistani cricketers, but what is happening might have nothing to do with money.

If these allegations of fixing are proved, it could be related to extortion, threats, and the well-being of their own family members. It would not surprise me if illegal bookmakers have told players that if they do not perform X and Y, their families will be kidnapped or harmed.

In my time as Pakistan coach, I gained some incredible insights into the workings of the country and the team, and I'll never forget the time the team captain called me up to his room on the eve of a match.

Earlier that day, a player who we had not selected for the game approached me, saying: ''I was told I would be playing tomorrow.'' My response was, ''Well no, you're not, you've obviously been given the wrong information.''

Then the skipper of the side called me late in the evening. I went to his room and he was standing there with a very sombre-looking selector.

This selector said: ''We must pick [the player who had earlier approached me], I have been told that if he is not in the team tomorrow, my daughter will be kidnapped and I will not see her again.''

At first we both laughed, but then we realised he was being serious. Our chairman then called the president, Pervez Musharraf, who in turn phoned the people behind the threats and said they had better reconsider or else. The next we heard the matter had been resolved.
We must also remember that we are judging these guys by the standards of our own country, when their situations are vastly different.

The first time I met Mohammad Amir was when he was 16 years old, coming to an under-19s camp. He comes from a small village near the Swat valley and was delayed by three hours because the Taliban had closed the highway. That doesn't happen in this country. One thing that struck me about Amir was his constant smile, his zest for the game. That has not changed.

I will never condone any form of fixing, but we should consider that a cricketer might not be thinking of personal gain but of getting money to buy a generator for his village because they don't have electricity.

I had a lot to do with Mohammad Asif and he was always missing training sessions to look after his sick mother. He has spent a lot of his money on looking after his family.

If Salman Butt is involved in any match-fixing, I would be absolutely stunned. He is a very intelligent, polite guy and has done well since taking over the team.

I cannot remember one incident in my time as coach of Pakistan that aroused suspicion of a fix.

I had my eye on it when Asif and Shoaib Akhtar had come back from their nandrolone bans. We had a meeting about match-fixing and spot-fixing.

We were pretty consistent during my tenure. The players knew there were financial rewards for performing well.

My first reaction to this latest news was sadness. These are people I know, people I call friends. This will probably be the end of some careers.

I don't think Pakistan should be banished. We have seen them survive some incredible on- and off-field turmoil. You shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

But I will say that the present Pakistan administration cannot escape some of the blame for this. What they need right now is positive leadership and they don't have it. The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Ijaz Butt, is not a leader, he should not have the job.

When I was there, the board did not have people with vested interests, they were business people who treated people fairly. The first-class players were looked after and paid well and it made a difference.

It would be the greatest tragedy if a young man like Aamer has been led astray.

Source

It is good get comments from someone who has seen Pakistan Cricket from very close in the midst of the noises of "Ban them", "Cheats" blah blah blah.

Pakistan Cricket needs help from ICC not a ban.

 

[Fusion]

Did you read what was underneath that article which is also very telling.

US $ 3 million has got to be either a typo or exaggeration.

The girl referred to in that article is his ex-wife Veena Malik. She and Asif had an extremely bitter and public divorce. They were regularly on TV shows yelling at each other and accusing the other of every indiscretion imaginable. She maybe telling the truth, but anything she says has to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Sanz]

Yeah, its not like Veena Malik is a paragon of Virtue, I have watched her stuff.

 

[silentstriker]

It is good get comments from someone who has seen Pakistan Cricket from very close in the midst of the noises of "Ban them", "Cheats" blah blah blah.

Pakistan Cricket needs help from ICC not a ban.

Help? How does the ICC stop that? Ban should definitely be a big option if such things are happening in their cricket infrastructure.

 

[weldone]

Azhar was banned for life as a cricketer. He was elected by the people into the Parliament, there is nothing illegal about it.

SJS wasn't talking about the legality, he was talking about 'the people', precisely...

 

[Sanz]

SJS wasn't talking about the legality, he was talking about 'the people', precisely...

So what is wrong with the people electing Azhar ?

 

[Jarquis]

Agree 100%. There's no way that any professional player would think that accepting money from a bookie in exchange for performing in a certain way is wrong. It's not as if spot-fixing is a new thing either; Kaneria got arrested for allegedly doing it in county cricket a couple of months ago. He wasn't charged in the end, but if for some reason Amir hadn't known of it before, you can be damn sure he would've known of it after that.

Bailed until September.

 

[Jarquis]

Really struggling to get my head round this whole situation. Find it hard to believe that Amir would be willing to take a measly 20k to bowl a few no balls and jeopardise his entire career.
As some of the links over the last few pages show, this is a much bigger issue than it appears on the surface and looks to be running a lot deeper than the Pakistan cricket team or even just the PCB.
This could only be the beginning of the discoveries in terms of the circumstances that led to Amir's no balls and the corruption currently surrounding the Pakistan national side.

Frankly it's ****ing nuts, and the fact the tour is continuing can only make the situation more difficult surely?

 

[Burgey]

Bailed until September.

When did this happen? I can't recall if he played against Australia or in this series.

Please tell me that someone on bail facing allegations such as this was not allowed to play while the matter is dealt with.

 

[Burgey]

Cricket match-fixing | Pakistan

It's reported that Haddin was the player approached during last years T20, and that Watson was approached in London last year. Scary that it's all so open, just walking up to a player in a bar!

Haddin was on the radio here this morning. He confirmed all that and also said he was in his room ona tour of England when a bloke knocked on his hotel room door at 11 pm, he was from the subcontinent. He asked Haddin out for dinner, said he wanted to talk cricket and just said he would buy him dinner.

Haddin closed the door in his face and contacted team management, apparently.

Bizarre, scary too.

But he should have had a feed with Sachin, that's just rude.

 

[outbreak]

All these reasons being given for why a player from pakistan would take cash just make it more obviously they shouldn't be playing international cricket to me. If it's all so shady and so much crime involved the solution isn't to be lenient its to not put them in a position to corrupt the game and ban them until it's all sorted out. A new crop of players will just turn out the same and in another 5 years it'll be another match fixing scandal.

 

[pskov]

Sky Sports News has been reshowing the fluffs Kamran Akmal made in the Sydney test earlier this year. I knew they were bad at the time, but had forgotten just how appallingly shocking the Hussey run-out miss was. With what has been revealed it is now really difficult for me to not believe that something very dodgy was going on in that match.

 

[Jarquis]

When did this happen? I can't recall if he played against Australia or in this series.

Please tell me that someone on bail facing allegations such as this was not allowed to play while the matter is dealt with.

Essex Cricketers Danish Kaneria And Mervyn Westfield Arrested In Spot-Fixing Probe | UK News | Sky News

 

[Matt79]

It is good get comments from someone who has seen Pakistan Cricket from very close in the midst of the noises of "Ban them", "Cheats" blah blah blah.

Pakistan Cricket needs help from ICC not a ban.

Of course if they were banned from international cricket, there would be no reason for the bookies/kidnappers to take an interest in them.

Probably sounds cold, but realistically there's nothing the ICC or world cricket can do to fix the kind of issue Lawson describes. Letting them play doesn't sound like it is particularly helping the guys in the Pakistan team (other than the ones corruptly getting rich) and it's seriously damaging the sport.

 

[Evermind]

Cricinfo calling upcoming matches "fixtures" has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning.

 

[Anil]

But he should have had a feed with Sachin, that's just rude.

taking the name of our lord in vain...

 

[Faisal1985]

Just incredible the amount of hate speeches going on in this thread.....people want to murder Pak cricket all together....just goes on to show what you really feel about Pakistan and its people..pure hate and nothing else...