ICC chief says fixing allegations against Pakistan players are most serious since Cronje

LONDON - The head of the International Cricket Council has called the fixing allegations against three suspended Pakistan players the most serious case of corruption to hit the sport since South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life 10 years ago.

Speaking on Friday, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said allegations that Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt conspired with bookmakers to deliver deliberate no-balls in last week's fourth Test against England were hugely detrimental to the image of cricket.

The fallout from the case is also spreading, with Pakistan's top diplomat in Britain accusing the ICC of bias and banning the players only to cover up shortcomings in its own procedures.

Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan again criticized the ICC for taking action before police had completed criminal investigations.

Police released the players without criminal charge late Friday after questioning them separately at a station in northwest London, but the trio are still charged with "various offences" under the ICC's anti-corruption code.

"After the shocking, arbitrary and high-handed suspension of the three Pakistani cricketers through the ICC's uncalled for action, nothing is coming to me as a surprise," Hasan said in a statement. "Rather, my apprehensions that there is a rat in the whole affair are being strengthened.

"It is emerging as a fishy situation where pieces have now started falling in place to convince me that there is more than meet the eyes."

With Pakistan banned from playing home internationals following last year's terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka squad, some Pakistani journalists have suggested there is a conspiracy against their country.

With illegal gambling often occurring in India, some have even suggested involvement by Pakistan's neighbour and territorial rival.

"ICC's action was not only in a bad taste but was also self-serving, mala fide and intriguingly sinister," Hasan said.

Hasan, who met with the players for three hours in London on Thursday, reiterated his belief that they are innocent. He said suspending the trio after they had voluntarily stood down from the rest of the team's tour of England prejudiced the police inquiry.

But the ICC is adamant there is a case to answer.

"In terms of corruption in the sport, this must rank as the next worst after the Hansie Cronje case," Lorgat said.

Cronje admitted to forecasting results in exchange for money from a London bookmaker, prompting the ICC to create its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

Lorgat denied that the charges were evidence of bias and said the ICC was committed to maintaining the country's status as a full member of the body.

He said he was sympathetic to the hardships faced by Pakistan — which, as well as security concerns, cannot send its players to the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament — but ACSU chairman Ronnie Flanagan took a more hardline approach.

"What they're paid or not paid is absolutely no excuse for wrongdoing," Flanagan said.

There is no suggestion that the Pakistan players conspired to affect the result of the match at Lord's — which Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs for its worst ever Test defeat — but the trio could still be banned for life if found guilty.

The ICC could widen the investigation into the allegations against Asif, Amir and Butt — whom it suspended late Thursday — to cover January's contentious Test match against Australia in Sydney.

Flanagan said the current charges pertain only to last week's fourth Test against England but that the ICC could still look into what he called a "dysfunctional" tour of Australia by Pakistan.

"We will go where the evidential trail takes us," Flanagan said. "At this stage, we do not have such evidence to hand for that tour or that match."

Flanagan added that there were separate ongoing investigations into other international sides but that he did not think that the current case was "the tip of an iceberg."

However, Flanagan did acknowledge that cricket was especially suited to spot betting — when gamblers wager on individual events within a match rather than the result — and said that it may be time for a single body to regulate betting across all sports.

The body could monitor betting in the way WADA looks at doping.

"There is perhaps a much wider problem in terms of betting and the regulation of betting worldwide," Lorgat said. "I have already been in touch with colleagues in a similar position in horse racing. Perhaps together, we can look at the whole problem with betting and the regulation thereof."

In the meantime, Flanagan said the ICC will examine its own code and strengthen it if necessary.

He said he would congratulate the News of the World if the allegations stemming from its sting operation, in which an undercover reporter met with an associate of the players, resulted in convictions.

"We are not a police force," Flanagan said. "We cannot arrest and we cannot engage in undercover operations.

"They brought it to light in ways the ICC would not want us to engage in. You can never be 100 per cent foolproof. There will always be cases of wrongdoing."

Flanagan and Lorgat would not comment on reports in Friday's edition of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper that marked notes used in the sting operation that led to the allegations had been found in Butt's locker.

The pair went on to say that the ICC reacted as quickly as it could to the initial allegations against the Pakistan trio, but would not announce the specific charges against them.

"The players are aware of the charges against them and it's up to them and their legal representatives whether they want that to be made public," Flanagan said. "We are determined to be scrupulously fair."

The suspensions followed allegations by the News of the World that Amir and Asif deliberately bowled no-balls at predetermined points in last week's fourth Test against England.

Amir, Asif and Butt were first questioned by police late Saturday when the allegations were made public and had their mobile phones confiscated.

The players' lawyer said they had travelled to Kilburn police station voluntarily and had never been arrested.

Lawyer Elizabeth Robertson said the trio will continue to co-operate with police and ICC in investigations.

"There was no specific tipping point that caused us to act yesterday," Flanagan said. "Rather it was the culmination of a process of examining all the evidence and taking legal advice.

"They have a case to answer in our disciplinary arena."

Flanagan said the 14-day window for an appeal by Pakistan could be extended since the complexity of the case means it will not be resolved immediately.

"It will certainly not be in weeks," Flanagan said.