Former Pakistan Test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has had a two-hour meeting with the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators in Britain to discuss the alleged corruption in Pakistan Super League (PSL), which had resulted in the investigations against Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Nasir Jamshed.
Meeting the officers in central London, Sarfraz said, “I had contacted the crime agency last May, briefing them about corruption in Pakistan cricket. I have also told them that after having ignored the Justice Qayyum report, the PCB has employed so many tainted cricketers in their cricket academy and on various other key posts at very high salaries and that is violation of the code of conduct that they themselves preach. Therefore, the PCB needs to be investigated,” said Sarfraz.
In the late 1990s, Justice Malik Qayyum was appointed as a one-man investigation tribunal and his report was made public in year 2000, which resulted in fines of up to Rs300,000 against some of the Pakistan’s top cricket stars such as Inzamamul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, and few others who were banned.
Qayyum’s report, however, was found out to be based on hearsay and lacked concrete evidence against some of the players and yet they were slapped with hefty fines. In TV interviews, Qayyum himself had admitted that he fined the players for not coming out with the truth and not for match-fixing and that he was being influenced and under pressure during investigation.
Sharjeel, Latif and Jamshed have still not been cleared by the PCB committee after being challenged by the players, who continue to plead their innocence and maintain that that they have been wrongly accused. The NCA in Britain had also questioned opener Nasir Jamshed.
Sarfraz said he is confident that something will come out of his meeting with the officers last Wednesday in London.
