It is a matter of fact that “Satta” is big in Mumbia and that the high stake betting is pat of the Bharati culture. It is also a fact that the current scandal plaguing the young Pakistani players involves some prominent Bharati bookies. The fact remains that in all previous scandals the bookies were traced back to Indians in Dubai and Mumbai. The root cause of all evil in cricket is in Mumbai. Young players from lower middle class families are enticed with colossal amounts which they are unable to refuse.
While exemplary punishment has to be given to the players who throw no-balls on cue, the fact remains that cricket has to be purified from the curse of the bookies in Bharat. These bookies should be the responsibility of the Bharati government. Delhi is responsible for sending out “bookie ‘bombs’ ” that are destroying cricket in general. The IPL circus is the other curse on cricket. They can call IPL anything they want, they should not call it cricket.
LONDON: The man at the centre of an alleged betting scam involving the Pakistan cricket team was out on bail Monday as police, governments and authorities probed the scandal rocking the sport.
Mazhar Majeed, 35, was released from custody having been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers, following a newspaper’s claim that he took money in return for exact details on no-balls in the Lord’s Test match between England and Pakistan.
The allegations have caused uproar in Pakistan and shaken a sport that prides itself on being considered synonymous with fair play.
British police bailed Majeed without charge late Sunday.
“A 35-year-old man has been bailed until a date in the future,” a Scotland Yard spokesman told AFP.
He said the police would not be discussing the date or his bail conditions.
Scotland Yard detectives have also grilled Pakistan captain Salman Butt and two of their star strike bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif in their investigation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the claims “have bowed our heads in shame”, as he launched an investigation.
The News of the World newspaper said it paid Majeed 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) in return for advance details about the timing of three no-balls in the fourth and final Test, which England won on Sunday to take the series 3-1.
The report said Aamer and Asif delivered blatant no-balls at the exact points in the match indicated by the alleged middleman.
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said detectives had on Saturday visited the team’s hotel, where Butt and the bowlers had been interviewed about the allegations.
All three gave statements to the police, who took away their mobile phones.
Scotland Yard said they could not discuss persons interviewed as part of an inquiry.
The News of the World published a photograph, video and audio of its encounters with Majeed. He was pictured counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate.
The Lord’s Test was played to a finish Sunday, but unusually, the post-match presentation ceremony did not take place on the outfield but was moved inside the pavilion.
During the ceremony, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke refused to shake Aamer’s hand when presenting the player with the Pakistan Man of the Series award and a cheque for 4,000 pounds.
Despite the allegations, Saeed denied that Pakistani cricket was “institutionally corrupt”.
“I would not like to say that,” he said. “Yes, one has heard and one has read (allegations), but I would not like to go that far.” A defiant Butt insisted he would not resign the Test team captaincy over the claims.
“Anybody can stand out and say anything about you, that doesn’t make them true,” he said.
In Pakistan, Gilani said a probe was under way.
“The latest fixing allegations have bowed our heads in shame,” the prime minister told reporters in his home town of Multan.
“I have ordered a thorough inquiry into these allegations so that action could be taken against those who are proven guilty.” President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his disappointment at the claims and is being informed of developments.
The country’s federal sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani promised that any players found guilty would be severely punished.
If wrongdoing was proven, “all the players involved must forget to play for Pakistan in future,” he said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said they had requested access to the ongoing investigation.
The no-balls at the centre of the claims were bowled on Thursday and Friday.
Pakistan’s players now face an awkward time as they must remain in England for a series of one-day matches.
“As far as I am concerned the one-day series is on,” Saeed said.
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan said cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to be dragged down by corrupt players.
“Why should Pakistan cricket suffer if some players have indulged in a crime?” he told Britain’s ITV television.
“The people who are found guilty should be removed from the team and replaced and should be punished as an example.” Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain and later PCB chief executive, wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper Monday: “It is a disaster for cricket…those players must now be dealt with severely.
“For them to do it at Lord’s, the Mecca of cricket, brings extreme shame and sadness.” The latest allegations are a further blow to cricket in Pakistan, already at a low ebb with home matches ruled out due to terrorism fears.
The team has been dogged by “fixing” allegations since the 1990s and also embroiled in ball-tampering. – AFP
Some analysts are investigating possible links between Bharati intelligence agencies and the bookies. After all the Bharati agencies have a stake in maligning their enemies and making them look bad in politics and in sports. It is pedagogical to note that RAW did help the LTTE attack the Lankan cricket players in Lahore. That event isolated Pakistani cricket to foreign tours. Many are raising their eyebrows on the antics of Bharati bookies who are playing a central role in all cricket scandals involving Pakistan. Of course this cannot be a coincidence. The Pakistani intelligence agencies should conduct a thorough investigation into the roots of this corruption.
its history that pakistan players always in trouble when ever they went for English tour,every tournament in england is controversial and english press is always behind pakistni players,i dont know what is truth this time but i have some doubts about this fiasco
1. what is the evidence that the alleged video is before the match
2. repoter is sitting beside the match fixer how he placed the camera in front,if fixer is so much proffesional how he ignored this
3. when the fixer getting money in car his position is quite doubtful,he completely turn towards the side like intentionally showing what he is doing,if you see that scene again you will find some abnormal position just to come in camera
4.he showed money to wahab and than he gave his jacket,whats the fun of giving his jacket (if its a secret deal than jacket is more obvious)
5.i know betting are normally on toss,opening pairs,order and on runs,no ball betting i heard first time,reporter said no ball was planned to show him that match is fixed,if this no ball planned to get the confidence of invester than why he paid at the same time same location just after his prediction.its seems fishy
6. in the end the news paper who planed this action “news of the world” is a notorious news paper like sun,they were fined 5 times for false reporting,his last editor was also thrown out due to controversial base less story,just goggle it and you will get the history,some of the bright stories of that news paper are listed below
Libel actions brought against the News of the World
* In 2005, England footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria brought a legal action against the paper seeking libel damages over an article that carried the headline: “Posh and Becks on the Rocks.” The legal action was withdrawn in 2006 and “resolved on a confidential basis,” according to the couple’s spokeswoman Jo Milloy.
* In April 2006, England footballer Wayne Rooney received £100,000 in damages from the publishers of The News of the World and its sister paper The Sun over articles falsely reporting he had slapped his then-fiancée and now wife, Coleen. Both had always denied the reports.
* In June 2006, England footballer Ashley Cole received damages from the publishers of The News of the World over articles incorrectly alleging the footballer had used a mobile phone as a gay sex toy. Together with its sister paper The Sun, The News of the World paid Cole £100,000 to settle the case
* In July 2006, a libel action brought by the Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan came to court in Edinburgh. Sheridan denied allegations, made by the newspaper in November 2004 and January 2005, that he had an affair, engaged in group sex and attended a swinger’s club in Manchester. Sheridan won the case and was awarded £200,000 in damages. The newspaper intends to appeal against the jury’s decision,[12] and has refused to pay out the money; Sheridan and several associates have been charged with perjury, but the case has not yet reached the courts.
* In January 2010 Norwich City Football Club Started legal proceedings against the News of the World after they published an article, “Canaries on Brink” on 24 January 2010 claiming that the club had begun the processes of going into administration [13]
* In February 2010, the Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made plans to sue the News of the World after it published allegations about their relationship.[14]
just visit this newspaper site you will come to know this news paper is holding betting on cricket on line,
i am not saying our cricketers are totally innocent,some of them must have some share but the way they humiliate Pakistan cricket is unacceptable,india ,south africa,west indies and england also involved in match fixing,and the truth is some of the matches ICC herself fix to get the financial benefits,
,i dont know what is truth this time but i have some doubts about this fiasco
1. what is the evidence that the alleged video is before the match
2. repoter is sitting beside the match fixer how he placed the camera in front,if fixer is so much proffesional how he ignored this
3. when the fixer getting money in car his position is quite doubtful,he completely turn towards the side like intentionally showing what he is doing,if you see that scene again you will find some abnormal position just to come in camera
4.he showed money to wahab and than he gave his jacket,whats the fun of giving his jacket (if its a secret deal than jacket is more obvious)
5.i know betting are normally on toss,opening pairs,order and on runs,no ball betting i heard first time,reporter said no ball was planned to show him that match is fixed,if this no ball planned to get the confidence of invester than why he paid at the same time same location just after his prediction.its seems fishy
6. in the end the news paper who planed this action “news of the world” is a notorious news paper like sun,they were fined 5 times for false reporting,his last editor was also thrown out due to controversial base less story,just goggle it and you will get the history,some of the bright stories of that news paper are listed below
Libel actions brought against the News of the World
* In 2005, England footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria brought a legal action against the paper seeking libel damages over an article that carried the headline: “Posh and Becks on the Rocks.” The legal action was withdrawn in 2006 and “resolved on a confidential basis,” according to the couple’s spokeswoman Jo Milloy.
* In April 2006, England footballer Wayne Rooney received £100,000 in damages from the publishers of The News of the World and its sister paper The Sun over articles falsely reporting he had slapped his then-fiancée and now wife, Coleen. Both had always denied the reports.
* In June 2006, England footballer Ashley Cole received damages from the publishers of The News of the World over articles incorrectly alleging the footballer had used a mobile phone as a gay sex toy. Together with its sister paper The Sun, The News of the World paid Cole £100,000 to settle the case
* In July 2006, a libel action brought by the Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan came to court in Edinburgh. Sheridan denied allegations, made by the newspaper in November 2004 and January 2005, that he had an affair, engaged in group sex and attended a swinger’s club in Manchester. Sheridan won the case and was awarded £200,000 in damages. The newspaper intends to appeal against the jury’s decision,[12] and has refused to pay out the money; Sheridan and several associates have been charged with perjury, but the case has not yet reached the courts.
* In January 2010 Norwich City Football Club Started legal proceedings against the News of the World after they published an article, “Canaries on Brink” on 24 January 2010 claiming that the club had begun the processes of going into administration [13]
* In February 2010, the Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made plans to sue the News of the World after it published allegations about their relationship.[14]
just visit this newspaper site you will come to know this news paper is holding betting on cricket on line,
i am not saying our cricketers are totally innocent,some of them must have some share but the way they humiliate Pakistan cricket is unacceptable,india ,south africa,west indies and england also involved in match fixing,and the truth is some of the matches ICC herself fix to get the financial benefits,