Tarar seeks clarifications on match-fixing report

Islamabad, May 6: President Rafiq Tarar, the Patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has sought certain constitutional, legal and administrative clarifications on the match-fixing and betting report from the PCB Chairman, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia, before announcing any directives on its implementation.

The PCB chairman called on the president at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday morning to discuss the implementation of the Justice Malik Qayyum's recommendations against certain cricketers whose involvement in the match-fixing and betting has been proven through the one-man judicial commission.

During the half an hour meeting, the president made a few observations with regard to constitutional, legal and administrative points before taking any decisions on the implementation of the Justice Qayyum report.

Talking to Dawn, the PCB chairman said that he would be leaving for Lahore on Sunday to collect answers to the required queries sought by the president, who is a former Supreme Court judge.

The recently hired PCB's legal adviser, Naveed Rasool, will work out the details on the specific observations made by the president, it was stated. The general said that the answers to the observations made by the president will be completed within next week and then resubmitted to the PCB patron. He remained firm on making the report public within ten day's time, when asked whether PCB would want to delay the report till the end of the current West Indies tour. "I don't think we have that much time on our hands," he said.

Meanwhile, a nine-line press release, issued from the President House after the meeting, stated the president had sought clarification on certain important points and resubmission of the report along with requisite details from the PCB chairman. It stated that the president had only received the report on Friday and added that the president hopes that there would be no undue delay in the matter. It also stated that the PCB chairman apprised the president about the steps being taken to promote cricket in the country.