Fresh match-fixing charges against Pakistan
Wisden Cricinfo staff
February 3, 2004
Pakistan cricket has been hit by a fresh match-fixing scandal after the leak of a confidential report from the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) to the Pakistan board which suggested that the team may have deliberately underperformed in two one-day tournaments in 2002.
According to The News, a Pakistan daily, two letters were sent by Lord Condon, director of the ACU, expressing concern about the conduct of some Pakistan players in tournaments in Morocco and Kenya. Pakistan performed poorly in both the tri-nation tournaments: they lost three out of four matches in Morocco, and made it to the final in Kenya only because the host nation was the third team in the competition.
According to the daily, Condon wrote in one of those letters, dated September 29, 2002: "None of the allegations of match-fixing or under-performance made in relation to Pakistan in recent weeks are capable of proof, at this stage, for judicial or cricket disciplinary purposes. Nevertheless, a worrying amount of information is being received from different sources in different countries and I place it before you in case it resonates with your own information and anxieties about recent results.
“A variety of sources, including match officials, players, informants, journalists and police sources have raised doubt with my unit about some matches and some players,” Condon wrote. “Of particular relevance to you is the allegation that the Pakistan team underperformed to order in Morocco and Kenya for betting purposes.”
The Pakistan team was earlier under the spotlight after their loss to Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup. The PCB had initiated an inquiry into that performance, but the Justice Karamat Bhandari report cleared the team of wrongdoing. However, Condon’s letter stated that the clean chit by Justice Bhandari might have given the players the “confidence to fix matches”.
Condon alleged: “It is suggested that the person primarily responsible for arranging the under-performance is Ratan Mehta from Delhi. Mehta has also been mentioned in the CBI report in 2000. He has always been of interest to my unit but in the last two months the intelligence reports suggest he is actively seeking to match-fix.”
Condon also wrote that during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, two senior Pakistan players were constantly seen with a Sri Lankan who was believed to involved in criminal activities and whose background was being traced with the help of Interpol. According to the daily, the letter further stated that a Pakistani player had used the hotel room occupied by the Sri Lankan to spend time with a Russian prostitute.
“I believe it is my duty to bring these matters to your notice so that, when added to information you already have, you may wish to take radical action about team selection and related issues,” the letter continued. “Of course if evidence is available we will all wish to take criminal or disciplinary action against the relevant player.”
© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd
i seriously hope this isnt true… especially the part about the russian prostitutes… the last thing we need is a cloud like this hanging over the team b4 a huge series
