Imran Khan’s new book has revealed that the inspirational all-rounder gave betting tips to his brother-in-law in a Test match involving England and South Africa, ESPN-STAR reported on Saturday.
The report said that Khan took this step in order to help clear the debts incurred by his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, after the 2002 parliamentary elections. “It took me a year to clear the debts the party had incurred during the elections. I cleared our last remaining debts in an unusual way; I was with my family in England, and my brother-in-law, Ben Goldsmith, kept asking me about what would happen in an England versus South Africa Test match. I discovered his interest came from his ‘spread-betting’ on the game.”
“I decided to watch the match, and that every Pound he made after recovering the £10,000 lost would go towards clearing my party’s debt,” writes the cricketer-turned-politician in his recently-published book, Pakistan: A Personal History. British millionaire, Ben, is the brother of Jemima Goldsmith. Jemima married Imran in 1995 but they got divorced in 2004. In spread betting, the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the bet, rather than a simple “win” or “loss” result.
“I have never gambled in my life and have never understood its attraction, but now for the sake of clearing my party’s debts, I watched the Test match with Ben for the next two days, telling him what to do and when,” Imran further elaborates in his book. At one point, the bookie asked, “Mr Goldsmith, you don’t happen to be sitting with your brother-in-law, do you?”
Imran Khan gave betting tips to clear debts
