Fourth Pakistan player investigated for match-fixing

A fourth Pakistan cricketer was reportedly being investigated over alleged match-fixing yesterday, with fresh betting scam claims casting a shadow over the country’s match against England.

Britain’s News of the World tabloid said the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has already charged three Pakistan stars under its anti-corruption code, was now probing a fourth player, but did not name him.

The same newspaper last week caused a major scandal by claiming it paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, £150,000 (€185,000) for advance knowledge of no-balls in last month’s final Test against England, which could then be bet upon.

That prompted the ICC to charge Test captain Salman Butt, 25, rising 18-year-old bowling star Mohammad Aamer plus another bowler, Mohammad Asif, 27, and suspend them pending a decision on the allegations.

Last week, the paper said that up to £15,000 of the cash it allegedly handed to Majeed was found in Butt’s London hotel room. Butt’s lawyer denied any wrongdoing, saying it would not be unusual for his agent to give him money.

It also claimed that Pakistan batsman Yasir Hameed had confirmed its reports and said the three players were facing 23 charges from the ICC, which refused to comment on the latest reports.

Pakistan’s top diplomat in Britain, high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan – who previously said the ICC should not have suspended them and accused it of “playing to the public gallery” – called for the trio to be banned if the case against them is proved.

“If they are found guilty, they must be punished properly, not only banned for life but I would see that they are prosecuted properly in a court of law,” he told BBC radio.

Hameed reportedly told an undercover reporter for the News of the World that some team-mates “were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages.”