Farhat plans legal action

Discarded opener "appalled" by Majeed's claims and news channel for airing video.

LAHORE: Pakistan’s discarded opener Imran Farhat has decided to serve a legal notice to Mazhar Majeed, the alleged bookmaker at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations, whose latest video added four more names to the suspended trio.

Farhat, one of the four named by Majeed in the video that appeared after the squad for the Twenty20 and Test series against New Zealand was named, was appalled by the claims.

“Majeed is not Farhat’s agent nor does he have any links with him,” Mohammad Ilyas, Farhat’s father-in-law and a national team selector, told The Express Tribune.

“We have decided to send Majeed a legal notice to come up with sufficient evidence for his claims otherwise we will be launching a law suit against him.

“His claims have stunned us all,” said Ilyas before adding that the notice will be sent through a local lawyer John Tickner.

He also said that the batsman was planning to send a defamation notice to Geo News for airing the video without any authenticity. “We have decided to sue him for an apology and damages and to clear Farhat’s name.”

Video is weak evidence

The Express Tribune understands that the leaked video was a part of the sting operation performed by the British tabloid and was shown to the players as a part of the evidence for the preparation for pursing their appeal to be held next month in Doha from January 6 to 11.

The latest video was captured in the summer and the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seem reluctant for the video to form part of proceedings as it does not add to the case.

ICC President Sharad Pawar on Wednesday refused to react on the latest revelations while the PCB chose not to comment and, in a bid to play down ‘yet another attempt to destabilise Pakistan cricket’.

“We have nothing to comment on,” said a PCB spokesperson.

Pakistan’s discarded wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, another individual named in the video, also slammed Majeed for the claims shown.

“He was just our agent and I don’t know why he is making these claims,” said Akmal. “If he is involved in bookmaking I don’t know anything about that matter. I have always tried to do my best for the country.

“Look at my performance. How can anyone say I am involved in match-fixing. More importantly, I’ve been cleared by the ICC as well.”

Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal

“He was just our agent and I don’t know why he is making these claims. If he is involved in bookmaking, then I really don’t know anything about that.”

All-rounder Shoaib Malik

“I’m really disappointed. Throughout my career I’ve never been involved in any wrongdoing and was not even in the team when those allegations were levelled.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2010.