Cricket Match Fixing Bookie Identified Following Suspension of Key Players
- Bookie is alleged to have met with batsmen Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan
- Both players suspected of involvement in spot-fixing
- A formal charge sheet is being prepared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against both men
- Sport of cricket long a target of match fixing and corruption allegations
The suspected bookie believed to have met cricketers participating in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been identified as a British citizen by the name of Yousuf in a GEO News exclusive (his photo appears here below).
GEO News reports that Yousuf met with cricketers, Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan, who were suspended on Friday for their alleged involvement in spot fixing.
Spot-fixing relates to a specific aspect of a game, unrelated to the final result, for which there is a betting market available. This often includes betting props. In cricket, examples include a no ball or wide delivery.
The PSL kicked off one day prior.
GEO News also notes that a formal charge sheet is being prepared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against Latif and Khan.
Both players were opening batsmen in their nine-wicket Twenty20 win against England last year. The two men scored 59 runs apiece in that victory.
The two men will remain out of the competition while the PCB and International Cricket Council continue what the PCB described as “an ongoing investigation into an international syndicate which is believed to be attempting to corrupt the Pakistan Super League”.
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From GEO News:
The PSL kicked off with a glitzy ceremony at the Dubai Sports City Stadium on February 09, but was soon hit with a corruption scandal involving Islamabad United players.
Khan and Latif met a suspicious man at a restaurant in Dubai, wherein the two batsmen were given special kind of grease to apply on handles of their bats, according to sources.
This was meant to help the book-makers present in the stadium identify them. Yet, the players were already on the radar of PCB’s anti-corruption unit.
The sport of Cricket has long been stained by match fixing claims.
Cricket's biggest match-fixing scandal occurred in 2000 when Hansie Cronje admitted he had accepted money to throw matches. Players from around the world were soon implicated. Since that time, it has been widely known that bookmakers and the underworld have immersed themselves in the sport.
In 2010, three of Pakistan’s top players were questioned by Scotland Yard and ultimately suspended by the ICC over spot-fixing charges.
