Former Test stars Aamer Sohail and Sarfraz Nawaz have slammed the game’s administrators for not doing enough to check match-fixing.
Speaking to an Indian TV after the news of Asad Rauf’s withdrawal from next month’s Champions Trophy broke, the former Pakistan cricketers slammed the International Cricket Council and the Indian Premier League authorities for doing little to stop cheats.
Sohail and Sarfraz said the anti-corruption units at the ICC and BCCI were failures and they should be taken to task for failing to control those who doctored matches. Sarfraz even went to the extent of saying: “ICC ACU is also part of the gambling mafia and should resign.”
Sarfarz slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board for “not being serious” on tackling the menace ever since a TV sting operation exposed two of its umpires allegedly for match-fixing. In April this year, the PCB suspended international umpire Nadeem Ghauri for four years for agreeing to “extend undue favours for material gain.”
Ghauri has officiated in five Tests, 43 One-Day Internationals and four Twenty20 matches. Pakistani domestic umpire Anis Siddiqui was also banned for three years. A PCB committee felt he initially resisted the offers during the same sting operation “but finally conceded to them on their persistence.”
“Neither the ICC not the PCB have been serious enough. There have been no proper probes,” Sarfraz said, adding the anti-corruption officers are reactive and barely proactive. He even wanted the IPL committee, headed by Rajiv Shukla to resign on moral grounds.
Sohail said allegations against Rauf should be proved first. “Is this speculation or there is concrete evidence against him?” the former Pakistan captain asked. Sohail said the ACU is equally at fault and if Asad is a suspect, so is the ICC. “It’s sad that all this is happening right under the nose of the IPL officials, match referees and anti-corruption sleuths. Why are they not being penalised?”
Both cricketers wanted the Police to expose the nexus between players, bookies and of course, officials.