LAHORE – Former security manager of Pakistan cricket team Major (retd) Khawaja Javed Najam revealed on Sunday how Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal had violated the regulations to entertain bookmaker Mazhar Majeed in their hotel room during the tour of England last summer.
As the six-day hearing of the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal entered its fourth day, Najam, in his statement to the tribunal in Doha, said that some players went out of their way to maintain links with the Majeed brothers – Mazhar and Azhar.
Interestingly, Najam also revealed that he caught Butt and Kamran holding a meeting with Azhar in Wahab Riaz’ room, the player who was also questioned by the Scotland Yard after the News of the World first published stories about Pakistan players’ involvement in spot-fixing last August.
He also mentioned that a national selector was also present in the room at that time in England. Wahab was also shown in a video giving his jacket to Mazhar outside a restaurant in London and then taking it back.
Najam stepped down as security manager before the team left for New Zealand citing issues with some board officials.
Testifying before the ICC tribunal, which is hearing the spot-fixing charges against Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, Najam said that he had suspected the constant presence of the Majeed brothers with the Pakistan team on different tours. Najam was quoted by Indian news agency PTI that despite repeated warnings, some of the players refused to distance themselves from the Majeed brothers.
“After being spotted in London, the brothers were told to leave the hotel room in 30 seconds,” he said. “The Majeed brothers were seen during the World T20 in the West Indies and the players were told to stay away from them,” Najam said.
“When I saw Azhar in Riaz’s room in London, I asked the fast bowler to bring him out. Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt were also sitting with them. When Azhar came out, one of the national team selectors also accompanied him and said he wanted match tickets from Riaz,” he added. Najam said that the selector saw Azhar out of the hotel while Salman and Akmal apologised for the breach.
