Pakistan summons big names for match-fixing inquiry

A commission probing allegations of match rigging by Pakistani cricketers during the last World Cup has summoned some of the biggest names in the game in Pakistan to give evidence on October 13.

"Justice Karamat Bhandari today issued orders for Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Khalid Mehmood, Dr Zafar Altaf and Lt Colonel Ifthikar to appear before the commission at its next hearing," registrar Kazim Ali Malik told Reuters on Tuesday.

The commission was constituted by the government to investigate allegations that Pakistan played two fixed World Cup games against Bangladesh and India during the tournament in England in 1999.

It has already held two hearings at the Lahore high court in which former test fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said in a two-hour statement that he believed the World Cup games were fixed.

"The commission will also decide on Thursday which experts to call to view the video tapes of the matches," said Malik.

"The commission has summoned the five persons for their testimony because all of them were involved with Pakistan cricket in one way or the other in 1999 and can help the investigations," he said.

Mehmood and Majid were respectively chairman and chief executive of the Pakistan board when the World Cup was held, while Altaf was chairman for a short period after the competition.

Miandad was removed as the team's coach just two weeks before the World Cup following reports that he had accused some Pakistan players of throwing games against England in a tournament at Sharjah in April of that year.

Ifthikar was a senior official in the defunct government Ehtesaab (accountability) Commission, which held a match-fixing inquiry into the World Cup defeats and suspended players Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad on match-fixing suspicions.

Sarfraz has claimed Ifthikar has important documents in his possession which confirm involvement of players in match fixing.

"The statements of Khalid Mehmood and Majid Khan are very important for the commission, as they were in charge of cricket affairs when the allegations first surfaced," said Malik.

Dr Ali Bacher, the former managing director of the South African cricket union who first suggested that Pakistan's World Cup matches against Bangladesh and India might have been fixed, has said that Majid passed on the information to him.

Majid later confirmed he had given the information to Bacher, but said he had no solid evidence to back up his suspicions.

Despite losing both games, Pakistan qualified for the next stage of the World Cup and went on to reach the final which they lost to Australia.

Mail Cricket Editor