Pakistan Cricket: Spot-Fixing Row Continues; Three People Reportedly Arrested by Scotland Yard
Custom officials arrested three more people in connection with the alleged match-fixing scam of Pakistani players in the 3rd day of the 4th Test match against England at Lord’s. According to HM Revenue and Customs, two men and a woman has been arrested from London in context with the ongoing investigation against the Pakistani players for their alleged role in the spot-fixing scam. The three suspects were investigated by the Customs officials and were released on bail afterwards. The situation arose with the scheduled meeting of alleged players with officials from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 on 31st August. HM Revenue and Customs Officials described the arrests to be linked with the current investigations against Pakistani players. The arrested people included a 35-year old man and woman from Croydon area and another male from Wembley aged 49.
According to Customs Officials, the suspects were arrested, interrogated and then released on bail till further investigations. However, the spokeswoman for the customs officials refused to link the arrests with the match-fixing scam and maintained secrecy about the arrests. The alleged scandal was foiled by the British tabloid ‘The News of the World’. According to the tabloid, a journalist bribed a middleman 150,000 pounds in a bid to buy Pakistani players who deliberately bowled no-balls for the said transaction in the 4th Test against England at Lord’s. As soon as the news appeared in the media, Scotland Yard detectives apprehended a cricket agent. The agent is said to be a well known bookie, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed. The suspect owns a Football club at Croydon and was suspected to have had several meetings with Pakistani players prior to the match. The most sizzling evidence was the video in which he was shown revealing the accurate no-balls to be thrown by the Pakistani bowlers as part of the spot-fixing deal.
Is there any veracity to the video?
It is premature to comment on the authenticity of the video at this juncture. However, it really has caused ripples across the board in the cricket fraternity. The reputations of players have badly been damaged, with even the head of the state condemning the incident. Not only has the image and reputation of players been affected, it has also had a very negative effect on the nation whose players have been alleged of corruption in an aristocratic game of cricket. The four players of the visiting team were subjected to enormous humiliation by the wide media coverage with headlines depicting confiscation of valuables related to them. The media reported that the mobile phones, laptops and cash money of the alleged players have been taken into custody by the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard.
The media also gave wide coverage to the interrogation of the four alleged players by the police. The alleged players are Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. The interesting fact about the media and its impact on general as well as the officials of cricket fraternity is worth mentioning. Without anyone bothering to wait for the investigations, ‘actors’ from different fields of life along with cricket officials and former veterans jumped into the controversy, giving recommendations for different means of punishments for the alleged players. The participation of the players in the One-Day match against England is one of the burning issues debated by the cricket fraternity. Some sensible and responsible officials like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719, however, refrained from making any statement against the alleged players till the finalization of the inquiry report.
Former cricketers also spared no chance to keep themselves away from commenting on the alleged scam. The important issue is that nobody commented on the veracity and authenticity of the video clip and the credibility of The News of the World tabloid. It is possible that the video might have been fabricated using the latest editing tools. The accurate and exact revelations by the bookie in the video about no-balls demand the determination of the exact date and time the video was made. Whether the clip was fabricated after the match or is a real clip formulated secretly well before the match must be ascertained to determine the veracity of the allegations.
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