PCB ignored warning signs, claims minister

Jakharani claims he had raised the issue of a relationship between players and bookies with the PCB.

ISLAMABAD: Sports Minister Ijaz Jakharani claimed in the National Assembly on Tuesday that he had raised the issue of a relationship between players and bookies with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) when an Urdu-language newspaper broke a story about it, but the board insisted that “there was nothing wrong”.

The PCB is reported to have believed that the Majeed brothers were acting as “agents” for some players, who were looking for sponsorship deals.

“It was almost a month before the News of The World came out with the documentary evidence,” Jakharani said. The minister also warned the PCB of strict action if it was proved that the board’s negligence resulted in the scandal.

The top management of the PCB was accused of being aware of the “years-old” links between cricketers facing spot-fixing allegations and London-based bookies. The PCB knew that Mazhar Majeed and his brother had access to the players’ hotels and the Pakistan team’s dressing room during their foreign trips, said the minister.

Jakharani was speaking in response to a call-attention notice raised by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members.

Mazhar was caught on camera by the British tabloid, News of The World, explaining how he gave Pakistani players ‘spot-fixing’ directions during their last Test match against England.

The minister said that the government would take severe action against the cricketers if their culpability was established.

Members belonging to the PML-N questioned the “integrity and honesty” of officials running the PCB, including its chairman Ijaz Butt, and urged President Asif Ali Zardari to remove him.

Another NA member belonging to the PML-N, Shireen Arshad Khan, suggested that the government should ask cricketers to submit statements about their assets.

“[The players] get paid huge amounts,” Khan said, adding that the government should make sure their assets correspond with their known income. However, the minister did not respond to this proposal.

Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, who was chairing the session, ordered the government to share the preliminary report by the Scotland Yard with the house as well as the one sent to the president by Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan.

Jakharani said the draft of the PCB’s constitution is almost ready and will be sent to the law ministry for vetting.

Published in The Express Tribune September 22^nd, 2010.