by Karachi , July 1: A top Pakistan sports official on Saturday denied
there is a
rift between the powers of world cricket over allegations of
match-fixing.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director of operations Yawar Saeed said
no
conflict emerged at the recent International Cricket Council (ICC)
annual
meeting in London. "It's in nobody's interest and cricket is a global
game and
no such thing came up in the annual meeting," he told AFP.
Cricket officials in Pakistan and India have complained that their
teams have
been unfairly targeted by inquiries into match-fixing allegations
which have
rocked the sport in recent months.
Former British police commissioner Sir Paul Condon was on Monday
appointed
Director of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption
Investigation to
probe widespread allegations of match-fixing. Condon's appointment
was
bitterly opposed by Pakistan, who did not want an Englishman to take
the
post. The dispute reportedly raised questions over England's tour of
Pakistan
later this year.
One of Condon's first tasks will be to look at testimony from Ali
Bacher,
managing director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, to the
King
Commission that he knew of betting on one-day matches back in 1994,
which
has been referred to the anti-corruption unit. Tapes of former
Pakistani
captain Salim Malik's alleged conversations with journalists
discussing
match-fixing, which have been passed to the ICC, will also be
forwarded to
him.
The Code of Conduct Commission will consider the Quayum Report into
match-fixing in Pakistan, while Bacher's claims that former Pakistani
umpire
Javed Akhtar had taken money to influence a 1998 Test between England
and
South Africa have been referred back to the PCB to investigate.
Saeed said Malik had already been banned for life, other senior
players had
been fined and Pakistan had not been asked to "do any further
inquiry." He
said Bacher's allegations that two of Pakistan's World Cup 1999
matches were
fixed were "just hearsay."
"The matter is with ICC Code of Conduct Commission and they will ask
Bacher
about his allegations. We can't reopen an inquiry on just hearsay and
baseless
allegations," he said. "Condon would be working under the Code of
Conduct
Committee and he is just an investigator." (AFP)