Muhammad Rizwan seeks ICC clarity on corruption procedure as Pakistan probe continues
Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Rizwan has approached the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit seeking clarity on the procedure to be followed if a player is suspected of involvement in corruption, amid a government probe into alleged links to illegal betting and gambling websites.
The move comes after the Lahore High Court on Thursday rejected a writ petition challenging the jurisdiction of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to investigate such matters.
The wicketkeeper-batter, who has played around 250 international matches across the three formats, is being questioned by the NCCIA after he was ordered to return home along with two other senior players — Salman Ali Agha and Imam-ul-Haq — from Pakistan’s disastrous tour of England.
Rizwan, who has had no previous allegations of involvement in illegal betting or gambling during his more than 10-year international career, has sought to know from the ICC whether the PCB followed the prescribed procedure if it suspected any of its players of corruption.
The ICC Anti-Corruption laws state that if any player belonging to any member country is found involved or is suspected of corruption and breaching the anti-corruption code the ICC’s anti-corruption unit holds its own inquiry and takes the concerned board in the loop.
The PCB is yet to make it clear if it suspects Rizwan of any illegal practices and whether they have brought the matter to the notice of the ICC ACU which is mandatory under the anti-corruption laws.
A Test player, who has known Rizwan, said he was a bit surprised when the letter of the NCCIA was leaked out in which it is stated that Rizwan had been summoned to answer questions relating to his seized mobile phone and some illegal betting and gambling sites.
“It would be a big shock for me if any of the current lot of players were found involved in such corruption,” the former captain who declined to be named said on Friday.
In an unusual move, the phones of Rizwan and Imam were confiscated by the Pakistan team’s security personnel in London during the second Test at Lord’s and were not returned to them and are now being forensically examined by the National Cyber Crime agency to find out any suspicious activities on the phones.
Rizwan and Imam both appeared before the NCCIA for questioning on their return from London but no details have been given out on what transpired in the meeting.
Geo TV has reported that Rizwan kept on insisting that he should be told about the charges or suspicions against him but didn’t get a clear answer.
His lawyer was present in the building but was not allowed inside.
In the past Pakistan cricket has been stained big time by fixing and betting scandals the most notable case being when several players were accused of fixing matches in the 90s and when three players Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Amir were found guilty of spot fixing during Pakistan’s test against England in 2010.
Besides these cases also other Pakistan players including Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Umar Akmal, Asif Afridi, Muhammad Nawaz etc have been banned or fined for breaching the anti-corruption code in the Pakistan Super League or in other matches.
Ironically two years back when betting and gambling online sites were aggressively involved in using surrogate advertising in the PSL, media reports had claimed that Rizwan and Babar Azam had refused to display logos of the companies sponsoring their franchises in the league.
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