Ijaz Butt apologises to English board, players
The Pakistan Cricket Board chief, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, has said sorry to the English cricket and the English cricketers over his match-fixing comments after the Oval ODI between England and Pakistan. Butt had alleged
that the English team had accepted money to lose the game to Pakistan and later clarified that it was being spoken about in the illegal betting circles.
The English cricket board had been enraged by this and sent a legal notice to the PCB chairman, demanding an apology and damages for the statement he had made. The PCB chief had steadfastly maintained that
he had said nothing wrong given that he had only quoted what he had heard but flew down to England on Tuesday and met up with the English board officials.
The PCB and the English board released a joint statement after that in which Butt admitted that there was no proof to what he had said about the English team and he was sorry for not only what he had said
but also for the misunderstanding caused by it.
In his statement, he said the apology was on behalf of both, him as an individual and on behalf of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
“It is regrettable that there was a misunderstanding arising from my comments. I would like to make it quite clear that in the statements which I made that I never intended to question the behaviour and
integrity of the England players nor the ECB nor to suggest that any of them were involved in any corrupt practices or in a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket,” he said.
Butt also thanked the English board for allowing the Pakistan to use the English venues for their home games and for their role in trying to get cricket back in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who is the chairman
of the English board, also heads the a task force that is entrusted with the job of getting cricket back in Pakistan, which has been unable to host international matches due to security concerns.
The English board also released a press statement that said that they welcomed the apology and would now look to move on from the controversy without pursuing any legal action against Butt.
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