The Indian Cricket League (ICL) organisers have put on hold the outstanding payments of its Pakistani recruits after learning about the involvement of a former Test player in fixing the matches of the unauthorised league, Pakistan media reported on Sunday.
Leading newspapers, the Jang and Express, reported that the ICL organisers were fuming with anger when they discovered the former player's association with some Indian bookmakers.
"The player was sidelined after the organisers learnt about his contacts with Indian bookmakers and the ICL is now further investigating the matter," one newspaper report said.
The reports said involvement of the former player in match fixing is one of the reason for the organisers' decision to hold up the outstanding payments of the Pakistani recruits.
"The players, whose payments have been delayed, have now been assured that their payments will be cleared in a month's time," one report said.
The ICL, which kicked off in 2007 despite not getting the official recognition from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council (ICC), conducted it's last tournament in late 2008 and since then uncertainty looms large over the future of the league.
The ICL had signed on over two dozen Pakistani cricketers to play in the rebel league for the Lahore Badshahs team led by former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Five Pakistani players including Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved and Imran Farhat have already cut off their ties with the league and got NOCs to play for the national team again.
Others are also likely to follow suit with the future of the ICL in dark.
Recently, Hasan Raza and Mohammad Sami also accused the ICL organisers of holding up their dues being and threatened to go to the court if their outstanding payments were not cleared soon.
Incidentally, match fixing has always been a concern since the launch of the ICL and the high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL) as both the events were being tipped as the prime targets of bookmakers.
To save it from the clutches of corruption, the IPL recently agreed to pay a substantial amount to the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit to keep it away from the menace from the third edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament.
However in the first two seasons, the IPL organisers have made their own anti-corruption and security arrangements in India and South Africa with some former players, including ex-Pakistan captain Javed Miandad expressing fears that some matches of the league might have been fixed.
Photograph: Reuters
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