ISLAMABAD – An alleged betting scam involving former Pakistan cricketersand officials that took place during the second edition of the PakistanSuper League (PSL) has surfaced.
According to a report published in the Daily Express, a couple of formerPakistan cricketers colluded with a regional officer to form a bettingcompany, using the name of a particular PSL franchise as bait. They luredpossible betting clients by giving them confidence that they had peopleinside the franchise —including a coach and a team official — assistingthem.
The company claimed that it had dispatched expensive cars and watches tothe players as a part of their fool-proof plan. The people who placed betswere assured that the team would lose its first couple of matches, a claimthat gained more credence when the team lost its first match — resulting inmore bets. But the plan went south as soon as the team went on to win intheir next match.
This prompted heavy backlash from the people who lost their money and someof them contacted the team management over the matter. The franchiseofficials were surprised to hear about such claims and denied any sort ofinvolvement in the fraudulent scheme.
Upon hearing this, the franchise reported this issue to the PakistanCricket Board’s (PCB) anti-corruption unit (ACU) but it could not confirmwhether further action was taken on the matter or not.
“We reported the incident to PCB’s ACU as soon as we heard about it but arenot aware about the progress made by the board in this regard,” said anofficial of the franchise.
One of the cricketers involved in the scam has been reportedly involved invarious different spot-fixing scandals while the other makes regularappearances on various TV channels as a cricket expert.
Meanwhile, director of PCB’s security and ACU Col (retd) Mohammad Azam saidthat he had no information regarding the creation of such a company.