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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday suspended fast bowler Mohammad Irfan following the investigations into the spot-fixing allegations, DawnNews reported.
Irfan had appeared before the PCB anti-corruption unit in Lahore on Monday to answer allegation of him not reporting to the unit incident in which a bookie made a contact with him during the second HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The fast bowler was suspended and charge-sheeted over his alleged connections with bookies. The PCB has asked Irfan to submit his reply within 14 days.
The hearing continued for one and half hours and Irfan was also asked to hand over his cell phone and other relevant information to the unit.
There were reports that Irfan took the stance that he could not report to the unit because he was upset due to the death of his parents, who passed away one after other in a space of one year.
Along with Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Shahzaib Hasan, Irfan too was accused of allegedly meeting the bookie soon after the inaugural PSL match between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in Dubai.
The unit immediately sidelined prime suspects Sharjeel and Khalid, but allowed Irfan and Shahzaib to continue playing in the league after initial inquiries.
But after the end of the PSL final in Lahore last Sunday, both Irfan and Shahzaib were summoned by the anti-corruption unit.
Shahzaib, a former international, is to appear before the unit on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had said that it will undertake forensic examination of available evidence on spot-fixing allegations during the PSL and the information provided by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to fix responsibility on people involved in it.
In a preliminary report submitted to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the premier investigation agency said it was looking into the matter pertaining to deletion of messages from mobile phones of players to find out which of them were in contact with bookies and what had been agreed upon between them.
The report, according to the Ministry of Interior, has identified some vital points with respect to steps taken to prevent spot-fixing during the PSL and the possibility of players’ involvement.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (73) Closed
Mar 14, 2017 01:55pm
Its shameful to find how easy it is for our greats to sell mother land for few pennies even when they know they have a shinning future ahead if they remain sincere with the game... it seems return of Muhammad Amir and possibility of Salman and Asif retruning has sent a very wrong message... and immediately after that fixing started again.. very bad...
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Mar 14, 2017 02:01pm
A lames excuse..
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Mar 14, 2017 02:02pm
Unless and until strict criminal charges are fixed and deternet punishment are given only then players will think thousand time before getting indulge in such dirty acts.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:04pm
Very disgraceful.
While players are wrong , but they are part of overall corrupt system.
PCB should compensate them well to keep integrity threshold.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:02pm
start paying more and it will disappear . PCB is corrupt it self.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:05pm
This is a ruthless action in the light of inability due to the death of parents one after the other in short time before mentioned by Irfan.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:12pm
Why is it so easy for the bookies to get a hold on the Pakistani players?
Players need to start realizing that what is more important for them, their career intact with country's name or money.
Unfortunately, our players indulge themselves in such activities bringing shame to country's name.
Such players should be heavily penalized & should face a lifetime ban.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:14pm
this will happen if you give player chance in their thirties ...
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Mar 14, 2017 02:15pm
Match fixing needs to be dealt with strict action otherwise it'll eat into the system and nice to see PCB taking action.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:18pm
No problem. Keep your fixing Money. Take a break from game and after completing your ban period (which anyway will be reduced by PCB), come back to the team
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Mar 14, 2017 02:17pm
one question to PCB.. why Irfan he was allowed to complete playing PSL season and Sharjeel & Kahlid was removed on immediate basis?? why no same action against all he players?? it shows PCB itself is corrupt and playing favoritism games..
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Mar 14, 2017 02:18pm
PCB should show zero tolerance towards game fixing in anyway. Knowing the rules fully well and then deliberately not following them is as good a crime as committing it. Catch them young to insure a corruption free team.
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Mar 14, 2017 02:25pm
I am not surprised why players from sub continent are involved in these practices. When corruption is so rampant and not a single PM or President is clean then what to expect from the people who belong to lower segment of the society.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:13pm
Sharjeel had a contract of PSL worth $70 thousand for 3 and half weeks of cricket. He was signed to play in England as well and would surely have got a huge payday in CPL, Big Bash and Bangladesh premier league. He just started to play all formats for Pakistan too so there is no logic of being greedy as he couldn't earn a fortune playing fairly. Same goes to Khalid Latif and Irfan. Hopefully they won't ever play for Pakistan again. How difficult it is to inform PCB or their own franchise management about a illegal approach.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:15pm
@M.Saeed , He can play Cricket in that time, but can't report such a serious incident to PCB. Make no sense.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:44pm
Who is the Bookie? If he is Pakistani then his passport must be seized. Why is his name being protected?
Whoever is involved no matter how important a player he is should be banned for life.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:48pm
They were inspired by their rulers.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:50pm
@Abid perhaps u didnt read the full article , hes been suspended for not reporting a bookie trying to contact him, to the ACU, not for spot fixing
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Mar 14, 2017 03:56pm
All these guys certainly deserve another chance. If Amir can play why cant they ??
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Mar 14, 2017 04:04pm
PCB HEIRCHY AND NO ONE ELSE IS TO BE REPSPONSIBLE FOR THIS NEW EPISODE . The way they Bent backwards to convince ICC to allow Convicted felon Mohammad Amir back into the game and the team , it showed the others a way forward to make money when possible cos PCB will bail them out eventually .
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Mar 14, 2017 04:07pm
When I was against including Amir back in the team,many suggested that his case would awaken others to avoid this dirty corruption activity for which we were on the spot light in 2010. Happened again cricketing folks!
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Mar 14, 2017 04:13pm
@Zak If you keep giving chances like this, that day is not far...
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Mar 14, 2017 04:16pm
This decease has to be eradicated from all forms of sports. There should be no leniency.
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Mar 14, 2017 04:20pm
Who is the bookie? why his name isn't disclosed?
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Mar 14, 2017 04:20pm
And these uneducated, illetrate, ignorant and uncivilized players continue to bring country name into disrepute....
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Mar 14, 2017 04:29pm
@Waseem Sarwar "How difficult it is to inform PCB or their own franchise management about a illegal approach." Did Amir inform PCB? Why is he playing?
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Mar 14, 2017 04:38pm
Why rush to judgement, maybe these guys are innocent, or maybe there are different levels of guilt, maybe they are all guilty, but lets all wait till they are either found to be guilty or innocent before making judgement about them. But lets not forget, corruption at all levels is part and parcel of our society, we need to start further at the top with guilty verdicts and work our way down, thus cleansing the swamp of corruption.
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Mar 14, 2017 04:42pm
Looking to the Pakistani players involvement seems to be more of ignorance than greed I think. PCB needs to educate their players regarding when to report.
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Mar 14, 2017 04:55pm
despite a serving prisoner giving license to Mohamad Amir for playing Pakistan again has gave wrong signal to other players that what ever you do nothing would happened in Pakistan . I thank that's what reflect now.
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Mar 14, 2017 04:59pm
Allegations can lead to suspension but not in all cases.Dont forget Kamran akmal and Wahab riaz cleared in oval test even they were the prime suspects.
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Mar 14, 2017 04:57pm
When will these cricketers learn to be honest. The rot has set in from junior level cricket in Pakistan, where fixing is an accepted fact. So the custom continues. Mohd Amir should never have been allowed to play, this has sent a wrong signal. It is disgusting, a SHAME absolutely no morals, scruples and will do anything for money
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Mar 14, 2017 05:05pm
I wish our agencies would become so proactive in all other aspects of corruption.
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Mar 14, 2017 05:09pm
Spot fixing aside Irfan does not qualify to be part of a winning team.
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Mar 14, 2017 05:14pm
@joe chaku The players are just doing what the entire country is doing i.e. taking bribes from everyone for everything. From PM to a peon, all take bribes. I am sure these players have given bribes to get things done in their daily life. We should not be surprised that the players are corrupt. They have learned it just like they learned playing cricket. What is happening in the team is the picture of what is happening in the country.
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Mar 14, 2017 05:19pm
How much money do they want? Is there any end to greed? These players are already earning way more than a qualified professional would earn , why then sell your conscience?
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Mar 14, 2017 05:38pm
Why he wasn't suspended along with Sharjeel and Khalid as it was already known that he was contacted by bookies but didn't inform PCB as per rules. Why he was treated differently than others by PCB?
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Mar 14, 2017 05:55pm
This seems to b never ending story of PSL scandal, not good for Pakistan cricket
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Mar 14, 2017 06:22pm
How much are PCB officials getting from bookies for selecting the same duds over and over again ?
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Mar 14, 2017 06:23pm
This is not at all about how less or how much more one gets paid by a cricket board. It is about integrity it is about honesty. A soldier in the line of fire does get paid much less than an average cricket player however he does Supreme sacrifice because of his integrity and values. Asian subcontinent lacks on all this values across.
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Mar 14, 2017 06:31pm
Wasn't PSL supposed to provide us with fresh talent? On the contrary, it is taking away all the talent we already have, thanks to corruption :).
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Mar 14, 2017 06:41pm
Ministry of interior after solving rest of the problems in the country is now fully focused on removing the last remaining imperfection in the country. Soon the country will be clean and pure from all security and corruption threats.
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Mar 14, 2017 06:54pm
@M.Saeed If he could play during that time he can also speak during that time. It's just a lame excuse. What else could he say?
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Mar 14, 2017 06:51pm
His reply will be, "It wasn't me. You have confused my name with someone else." Sorry old chap.
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Mar 14, 2017 06:59pm
@Zak PCB is discriminating. You have to be a certain age category.
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Mar 14, 2017 07:41pm
@Zak ... fully agree with you.
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Mar 14, 2017 07:45pm
Corrupt and corruption will always be there but all you can do is minimize it. Pay the right compensation and the players will stop biting into it. Why do you think in West players get paid millions of dollars a year?
When the players future is secured then they don't see the need for it otherwise players will keep taking the risks.
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Mar 14, 2017 07:49pm
@kh For your information Hafeez, in and out(should be out) player earned over Rs 70,000,000 in 2014.
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Mar 14, 2017 08:06pm
Pakistan Cricket Board has set a wrong example by allowing player who was involved in match fixing to play. You can't be so foolish to have that happen and also why this double standard of letting some players compete the entire tournament and then suspend them this does not show a board in good light at all. Be honest be transparent people around the world are not fools.
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Mar 14, 2017 08:18pm
@Abid Repeated episodes could be due to our players inability to expand their consciousness on the matter.
Similar arrangements will be devised in future and unfortunately our players can fall easily. Never heard of anything like this from Srilankan players. Guess what is literacy rate of that country...
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Mar 14, 2017 09:22pm
What is happening to Pakistani Cricket?!! This is very sad.
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Mar 14, 2017 09:40pm
He was "upset" due to the death of his parents in a span of one year! How could you play the whole tournament with all this tension!!
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Mar 14, 2017 09:41pm
@M.Saeed but he was stable enough to play the whole PSL??
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Mar 14, 2017 09:46pm
@Indian4RMBLORE What about our own IPL scandals and the banning of two teams , both the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super kings.
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Mar 14, 2017 10:24pm
Such a shame. Here again it proves that honesty is always the best policy if some one learns....
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Mar 14, 2017 10:26pm
@Abid Somewhere along the lines you have to start accepting the fact that Cricket turned into WWF in the 90s where almost every game is somewhat scripted or at least spot fixed. If you think IPL and Indian cricket is not fixed then you must be living in another planet. I know for a fact that there are World cup games organized by ICC are fixed... So Let alone just PSL....The whole concept of IPL was to invite retirees and young players to either make some money or earn their name on their in or their way out. That's it. We like to just be heard on our players when the fact is everyone in Cricket is doing spot fixing.
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Mar 14, 2017 10:27pm
@Abid : Well you are too slow to pick up on this, like IK said we have the Master of corruption in charge of PCB so what do you expect from the rest of the folks under these corrupt cronies.
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Mar 14, 2017 10:25pm
@Abdulla Hussain : In that case, Najam Sethi and his cronies should be shown door as the first step. As long as he is there, nothing good can come out of it
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Mar 14, 2017 10:31pm
@asif : You got that right, it all starts from the top
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Mar 15, 2017 12:50am
Pathetic these losers never learn from past. The problem is PCB should stop picking players from poor families.
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Mar 15, 2017 12:57am
Question is, which players didn't have contact with bookies?
That list will be shorter.
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Mar 15, 2017 01:52am
When a banned player can come back into the national side after caught red handed then this was bound to happen. Setting strict laws and rules like life ban can only stop this no matter how talented u are.
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Mar 15, 2017 04:57am
Though what Irfan did was wrong, and un-becoming of an international player, his suspension is not going to cure the basic problem. Pakistan Cricket should look for new breed of talent, and re-build the team. Headcoach Mickey ARTHUR has completely failed to tap new and young talent.
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Mar 15, 2017 06:31am
So Irfan was found guilty ? If the investigation is on going, than he is innocent until proven guilty. And if he is guilty, did he not learn anything from the previous cases against players? What is wrong with these people, what they are making today is still far greater than what they ever made before, greed is a nasty thing.
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Mar 15, 2017 07:09am
It is very heartening that accountability process has started in at least one institution. We all need to remember that corruption among cricketers is a reflection of corruption in the society in general and the political elite in particular. If we really want to eliminate corruption, we need to make an example out of the top political elite just as South Korea and Hong Kong did a few days ago.
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Mar 15, 2017 08:17am
PCB should also hunts these bookies don't blame everything to players. How bookies get so closed to players
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Mar 15, 2017 09:24am
Irfan didn't report out of fear as these people are dangerous he didn't take any money also he was in deep mourning after the death of both parents within a year of each other, the PCB has to be brave and go after the big fish not their victims everyone knows who the betting Baron is and his close involvement with the PSL the question is has the PCB got the strength and conviction to go after him and his brother?
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Mar 15, 2017 09:34am
Even psl allowed these guys to play. It was UK police that busted hence the action.
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Mar 15, 2017 03:41pm
Why everytime the players are comming on the surface. This can only be tackled if proper investigation is being done. Why the two persons arrested in UK and than sent out on bail
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Mar 15, 2017 04:37pm
Last thing pakistan need is tented player. Please wake up. Start finding out clean players. Cricket world want pakistan. Pakistani citizen wants clean cricket, every one else want pcb to act.
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Mar 15, 2017 08:39pm
The entire country is run on corruption. WHY ARE U SHOCKED!
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Mar 15, 2017 10:12pm
Some people will never learn.
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Mar 16, 2017 02:07am
embracing disgrace looking for quick buck
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Mar 16, 2017 05:25am
Don't suspect him, he was such a good bowler as akram and waqur younis, so pakistan cricket board should help him to come out from this trail as soon as possible is good for both pakistan cricket team and its people.
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