da apostebet： A team made up from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) andpossibly an official from the sports ministry will be heading to Englandas part of Pakistan’s probe into the spot-fixing allegations
Osman Samiuddin30-Aug-2010
There has been an angry reaction in Pakistan to the spot-fixing allegations•AFP
A team made up from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) andpossibly an official from the sports ministry will be heading to Englandas part of Pakistan’s probe into the spot-fixing allegations swirlingaround some of Pakistan’s top cricketers.No date of their departure is, however, set yet. A request has been madeto the UK government to let the team know when an appropriate time mightbe for the them to travel.The composition was discussed at a meeting between Interior MinisterRehman Malik and the Sports Minister Ijaz Jakhrani on Tuesday. Inam Ghani,the FIA director, and Azad Khan, the agency’s additional director, havebeen nominated to travel to London. The feeling in the interior ministryis that a point of view from the sports ministry is relevant andsignificant to the team’s work. An official from the sports ministry isexpected to be announced by Wednesday.Four players were alleged by the to be involvedin spot-fixing. Mazhar Majeed was caught on camera by the newspaperclaiming to have bribed fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir tobowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England. Majeed,who also claimed Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal were involved, was arrestedbefore being let out on bail without charge. Scotland Yard spoke to Buttas well as Amir and Asif, searched their rooms andconfiscated their mobile phones.”The team will interact with Scotland Yard over there and our involvementwill be largely dependent on the investigations of Scotland Yard,” Maliktold Cricinfo. “This will be fact-finding team, to ascertain what hashappened and why it might have done. There will be interaction withScotland Yard not interference because it has happened in the UK not inPakistan.”The involvement of the ministries indicates the seriousness with which thegovernment is viewing the allegations. Already the President Asif AliZardari (also the chief patron of the PCB) has asked for – and been sent -a preliminary report by the PCB into the matter. The Prime Minister YousufRaza Gillani has also spoken sternly of the “shame” the incident hascaused Pakistan.A request has also been made to Interpol London by the interior ministryto send background information into the case to Interpol Pakistan.