Lahore: A parliamentary panel on Monday made the stunning disclosure that some Pakistani cricketers were involved in match-fixing during the recent tour of Australia but declined to name the players involved.
The three-member sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Sports made the revelation after a meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board officials, including its chairman Ejaz Butt, at Gaddafi Stadium here.
"The sub-committee was briefed on the tour with documents, and there are verbal, video and solid proofs that one or more players were involved in match-fixing," said Haroon Akhtar, a member of the sub-committee. Recently PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt had denied about the fixing in Australia, where Pakistan lost all the matches, after admitting the same in a press conference.
Changing his stand, after a furore was created, Butt had said that he referred to old players and not the current one. The sub-committee is headed by Ghaffar Qureshi and its third member is Tahir Mashadi.
Akhtar, son of Lt Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman who died in a plane crash with former military ruler Gen Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, had earlier assailed PCB for not making public the report on the basis of which action was recently taken against several cricketers.
However, Akhtar indicated a change in his stance today. "The PCB has done good work in its investigation into the issue and it deserves credit."