PCB terms Al-Jazeera's spot-fixing allegations as baseless

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hit out against a recently released documentary which has brought spot-fixing allegations against the national side, calling it “baseless”. It said an investigation can be carried out into the matter only if the broadcaster agreed to share the footage. The PCB was reacting to the documentary released by Al Jazeera which claimed that four international games that saw Pakistan participating, were spot-fixed.

According to Al Jazeera’s investigative documentary which was released on Sunday, Aneel Munawar, an alleged match-fixer, is said to have been involved in as many as 26 spot-fixing instances in six Tests, six ODIs and three World T20 matches in 2011-12. The documentary is titled ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers: The Munawar Files’ and it claimed fixed passages of play in seven matches by English players, five by Australian players and three by Pakistani players.

The PCB released the statement saying that the charges were under review jointly by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its own Anti-Corruption Unit. “The broadcaster has not been forthcoming with provision of any evidence whatsoever in the absence of which their allegations remain unsubstantiated. Without the provision of evidence from the broadcaster, the allegations will remain baseless,” the statement read according to the Times of India.

Jamshed’s ban upheld

The Pakistan board’s statement came on the same day when an independent judge, Retired Justice Mian Hamid Farooq, upheld a decade-long ban on cricketer Nasir Jamshed. The left-handed opening batsman, who had once scored three consecutive ODI hundreds against arch-rivals India, was found guilty by the board’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal of spot-fixing, betting, accepting offers of bribe, consent to corruption and other charges during the second season of the Pakistan Super League in 2017.

Jamshed, a resident of the UK, had challenged the 10-year ban but the independent judge found it to be “perfectly justified”.

“The PCB has and continues to cooperate, assist and coordinate with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit in respect of investigations related to international cricket,” the PCB statement added. It also said the country’s cricket board has been proactive against uprooting corruption and has charged and even banned numerous cricketers for failing to acknowledge the Anti-Corruption Code.

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