Editorial error drags Kevin Pietersen into a match-fixing scandal

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen was left bemused after he found out a picture of him printed in a newspaper with the headline reading – “I’m not a match fixer.” The newspaper had mistakenly used the picture of a wrong cricketer in a news which was about South Africa’s Alviro Petersen who was implicated by Cricket South Africa for his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

While there were no mistakes in the news article and the name used in the headline was also correct, the newspaper management messed up by using the photo of Kevin Pietersen instead of Alviro Petersen. Maybe the similar sounding last names caused the confusion but such errors are highly unacceptable. Though Pietersen did not over react to the situation but was clearly unhappy with his photo being used in a news that clearly is a disgrace to the game. KP was obviously disappointed.

Kevin Pietersen wrote: “Hmmmmmm!!!! Not quite sure I’m all that happy with my image being used under this headline!!! What paper is this??????”

The South Africa-born cricketer who played for England is currently in Hobart, Australia doing a commentary stint with sports broadcaster Channel 9, covering the ongoing five-match Test series between Australia and South Africa.

Talking about the Petersen saga, Cricket South Africa implicated the former South African opener for breaching of its Anti-Corruption Code for Personnel. The right-handed opener had previously confirmed his role as the whistleblower in the match-fixing affair and after getting in contact with middleman Gulam Bodi and the syndicate looking to manipulate matches in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition.