After accusing three Pakistani players, Britain’s News of the World publishes a new interview with a player who claims that “almost every match” is fixed. Ordinary Pakistanis now wonder about their players’ excess earnings.

Lahore (AsiaNews) – In Pakistan, aftershocks are still being felt as what began as a gentleman’s game has turned into a sport of corruption and graft. In fact, whilst Pakistan’s cricket team excluded three of its players from its T20 series tournament in England after they were accused of trying to throw a match at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London, Pakistani media and public opinion are trying to find out how far match fixing goes among Pakistani players.

Team manager Yawar Saeed said the three players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, would not be on the team for the planned matches. This came after Britain’s News of the World accused the players of accepting bribes to throw the fourth match in Pakistan’s series against England, which the islanders won by 1 inning and 225 points, thus taking a 3 to 1 overall lead.

For the Pakistan Cricket Board, which is not new to scandals, corruption is a problem that touches everyone. In an article and a video by one of its reporters, News of the World showed a South Asian man representing an illegal betting cartel and a London-based businessman, Mazhar Majeed, who for £150,000 reassured his interlocutor that Asif and Amir would bowl no-balls at the agreed time. The paper then handed all the material to the police, which has not yet opened an investigation.

The lifestyle the three players enjoyed also raised suspicions. Team captain Salman Butt makes a lot of money, beyond what might be expected from a cricket player. He owns three villas in Lahore and is having a fourth, two-storey villa worth £300,000 built in the same city.

Mohammad Asif is said to own four properties, including an Italianate-style villa in Lahore, worth around £650,000, plus another one in Karachi and sixth in his native Shikhupura.

Mohammad Amir, who is only 18, has property in Lahore.

The case is not going to go away any time soon. News of the World has just published an interview with a Pakistani player, Yasir Hameed, telling a long tale about the endemic corruption in Pakistani cricket. Initially, he denied giving the interview, but later acknowledged it, in which he claims that his teammates were fixing “almost every match”.

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