Pakistan turmoil as Wasim faces 'immoral' claims (26 July 1999)

26 July 1999

Pakistan turmoil as Wasim faces 'immoral' claims

Mihir Bose

Wasim Akram, the Pakistan captain, who along with Ijaz Ahmed and Salim Malik has been suspended from the country's cricket team, plans to fly back to Pakistan this week to clear his name of match-fixing allegations.

He and his World Cup colleagues, however, now face fresh allegations that in the days leading up to the World Cup final they indulged in "immoral and unethical activities".

The accusations are contained in a report compiled by Ehtesab, the Pakistan government's anti-corruption unit. Added to the match-fixing allegations, it suggests Pakistan cricket is in for another period of turmoil.

Wasim, part of Channel 4's commentary team, said yesterday: "I refute any charges. I haven't done anything wrong. It's a long story. I think what has happened is that in Pakistan sport has a lot to do with politics and this is more political than anything else."

That is a reference to last week's suspension of the cricket board by an ad-hoc committee, who yesterday suspended Wasim, Ijaz and Malik in the latest twist in the long-running Pakistan match-fixing saga.

The scandal dates back to 1994, when Australia's Mark Waugh, Tim May and Shane Warne alleged that Malik, then Pakistan captain, offered them $200,000 to throw matches during a tour. Malik was cleared by the Pakistan cricket board the following year on the grounds of lack of evidence but the allegations continued and another internal investigation was opened in 1997.

The old cricket board was headed by Khalid Mahmood, who backed Wasim. This time last year, when Wasim announced he would retire from cricket to clear his name following match-fixing allegations, Mahmood persuaded him to change his mind and reappointed him captain.

After Pakistan's ignominious performance in the World Cup final, which led to effigies of Wasim being burnt and Inzamam-ul-Haq's house stoned, Pakistan's President Rafiq Tarar, suspended the board, of which he is also a patron, and appointed an ad-hoc committee of Mujeebur Rehman and Javed Zaman to run the game.

The appointment of these two men was enormously significant for Wasim. Zaman is close to Majid Khan, the former chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board. They are cousins and his son is married to Majid's daughter.

Majid has always been convinced that certain Pakistani players are guilty of match fixing. He is also believed to have told friends he suspects that Pakistan threw the matches against Bangladesh and India during the last World Cup. Mujeebur Rehman is the brother of Saifur Rehman, who runs the anti-corruption unit investigating the behaviour of Pakistan cricketers during the World Cup. Pakistan newspapers have carried reports of players being seen in casinos in the early hours of the morning before the final.

Mujeebur Rehman and Javed Zaman decided to dust off the report on match fixing that had been prepared by an internal cricket board committee. The report is over a year old and had never been made public but was leaked to journalists at last summer's Commonwealth Games. The report had called for the suspension of Wasim, Ijaz and Malik, and it was following the leak last year that Wasim announced he would retire from the game to clear his name.

On Friday Rehman and Zaman called a meeting of Pakistan Cricket Council. Also present was Ali Sibtain Fazli, the Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer who has been representing the Pakistan board in the inquiry into match fixing being conducted by Judge Malik Mohammed Qayyum. In January, Fazli went to Melbourne to question Waugh and Warne following allegations that they had dealings with an Indian bookmaker.

Fazli said: "The ad-hoc committee asked me to produce a detailed report on Justice Qayyum's inquiries, including a summary of the evidence. It seems the ad-hoc committee is determined to get to the bottom of the match-fixing allegations."

Justice Qayyum, who is on holiday in the United States, is due next month to cross examine Ata-ur-Rehman, a Pakistani cricketer who has alleged he was asked to throw a match by Wasim.

Legal sources close to Wasim in London claim that Ata-ur-Rehman had at one time retracted the allegations and his credibility as a witness is therefore debatable.

Mahmood has denied allegations that Pakistan lost the World Cup deliberately and he claims a "conspiracy" has been hatched against the old board and the players.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)