Cricket Betting Scandal involving Pakistan Players
Moderator: Zulus Thousand of em
Cricket Betting Scandal involving Pakistan Players
THE News of the World has smashed a multi-million pound cricket match-fixing ring which RIGGED the current Lord's Test between England and Pakistan.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/92 ... -Test.html
In the most sensational sporting scandal ever, bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif delivered THREE blatant no-balls to order.
Their London-based fixer Mazhar Majeed, who let us in on the betting scam for £150,000, crowed "this is no coincidence" before the bent duo made duff deliveries at PRECISELY the moments promised to our reporter.
Armed with our damning dossier of video evidence, Scotland Yard launched their own probe into the scandal.
Millions around the world watched Pakistan star bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif deliver three no-balls in the Test against England on Thursday and Friday at the historic home of cricket, Lord's in London.
Unsuspecting fans packed the ground yesterday to watch Pakistan collapse as they were bowled out for 74 in their first innings and forced to follow on.
But today our shocking footage of the players' fixer Mazhar Majeed taking a massive £150,000 cash, and telling us EXACTLY when the no-balls would come, proves the game was RIGGED.
Having already trousered a £10,000 upfront deposit - which he insisted had gone to the stars - Majeed sat in our west London hotel room at the Copthorne Tara on Wednesday night and eagerly counted out the £140,000 balance of the bung in bundles of crisp £50 notes - our "entry ticket" into a huge betting syndicate.
Our undercover team was posing as front men for a Far East gambling cartel. In return for their suitcase of money Majeed then calmly detailed what would happen - and when - on the field of play next day, as a taster of all the lucrative information he could supply in future.
He promised: "I'm going to give you three no-balls to prove to you firstly that this is what's happening. They've all been organised, okay?
"This is EXACTLY what's going to happen, you're going to SEE these three things happen. I'm telling you, if you play this right you're going to make a lot of money, believe me!"
We can sensationally reveal Majeed identified young Pakistan captain Salman Butt as the ringleader of the band of cheats. He also named wicket keeper Kamran Akmal and boasted he had a total of SEVEN corrupt cricketers in his pocket, all banking huge sums from bookies and betting syndicates.
The scam, fuelled by greed, is a betrayal by the players not only of their sport but of their cricket-crazy homeland.
As millions back home in Pakistan struggle against hunger and disease amid devastating floods, the cheats were defiling the reputation of Lord's and lining their own pockets.
BRAGGED that the scam is rife and future games against England this summer are already earmarked for cheating.
CONFESSED his match-fixing around the world had netted shady customers MILLIONS.
REVEALED how he oversees cheating by using no-balls, specifying how many runs will be scored or conceded in certain overs, with signals such as changing gloves to confirm the fix is on.
ADMITTED he abuses his position as owner of non-league Croydon FC to launder his illicit gains.
BOASTED he even went on to the field of play personally to help a bowler tamper with a ball.
At one stage Majeed told us our syndicate could make "absolutely millions, millions" by paying him up to £450,000 a time for info on matches, then placing bets on the carefully choreographed outcome. And he tried to excuse the players' shameful behaviour, claiming: "These poor boys need to. They're paid peanuts."
Majeed said he had even opened Swiss bank accounts for the cheats to hide their ill-gotten gains.
We launched our investigation two weeks ago after a tip-off. The Pakistan side has long been dogged by match-fixing allegations. Only today has the full shocking extent been laid bare.
Property tycoon Majeed, 35, has a £1.8 million home in Surrey and is a familiar face at cricket grounds around the world. We infiltrated his criminal network posing as wealthy businessmen on the make.
Majeed turned up for our first meeting on Monday, August 16, at the Hilton in London's Park Lane, casually dressed in jeans and a brown sweater, He immediately started bragging of his his connections with the Pakistani team. "I manage ten of the players," he told us. "I do all their affairs like contracts, sponsorship, marketing, everything really. I work very closely with the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board)."
Our reporters told him they wanted to organise their own 20/20 tournament in the Middle East. Majeed claimed he would be able to provide his players for the right fee.
When our man assured Majeed the players would do well out of it, he immediately said with a wink: "I know what you're talking about because I know what goes on!"
Majeed then hinted at the extent of cheating in the game. . .
REPORTER: "If there's two or three that are on for the other side, the betting side, then good luck - they'll be really happy."
MAJEED: "There's more than two or three. Believe me. It's already set up. That's already there. I'm very wary speaking about this simply because I don't know you guys.
"I've been dealing with these guys for seven years, okay? Who we deal with and how we deal with it is very, very important. This is the main thing. I'm only dealing with certain people. How we do it and what we do is very, very crucial."
REPORTER: "You're already dealing with another party on this matter? Give us some tips as well if you've got any. Happy to cut us in?"
MAJEED: "Yeah I'll give you tips."
REPORTER: "If there's anything we need to know in the forthcoming match let me know. Happy to pay."
Majeed said he was worried our men could be wearing tape recorders and he would check them out before going further.
Two days later at the Bombay Brasserie Indian restaurant in central London, Majeed told us we had begun to gain his trust. He had spent the day at the Oval where Pakistan bowled England out for 233 on the first day of the third Test.
After a trusted source vouched for our credentials, Majeed relaxed and laid his cards on the table. . .
MAJEED: "I do feel that I can speak to you about this, okay? Now, yes. . . there is very big money in it."
REPORTER: "There's still? I know there was, but they clamped down on match fixing I heard."
MAJEED: "They've toned down match fixing a lot, yeah. They've made it very, very difficult in many, many, ways.
"These guys won't deal with just anybody. The only reason they'll deal with me is because they know I'm professional, they know my background, they've known me for so many years, yeah.
"I've been doing it with them, the Pakistani team, for about 2½ years. And we've made masses and masses of money." Later that night Majeed boasted how it was the players who got HIM into match-fixing. He told us: "The players would never tell anybody else They were the ones who actually approached me about this. This is the beauty of it.
"I was friends with them for four, five years and then they said this happens. I said really?"
OVER: Majeed leaves with the cash that fixed Lord's Test
Majeed then described how the betting scam operates. He reached into a carrier bag, pulled out a white Blackberry phone and flicked through a series of messages.
"I deal with an Indian party," he said. "They pay me for the information." Then Majeed explained how many cricket bets are placed on what he called "brackets" - events happening in a group of 10 overs.
If players score well in the first three overs punters would be likely to bet on that continuing for the next seven. But if the fixed players then deliberately STOP scoring or slow down, anybody in on it can "make a killing", said Majeed. The same happens with bowlers giving away runs or throwing no-balls.
Not only is Majeed's information invaluable to syndicates involved in spread betting - where wagers are staked on a range of possible outcomes - it is also golddust for shady bookies looking to manipulate the odds in their favour.
The following night - Thursday August 19 - Majeed demanded £10,000 then revealed to us there would be two no-balls in the following day's Oval play.
That fix was cancelled on the day. So was a promised maiden over by captain Salman Butt on the Saturday - final day of the Test England lost.
But just days later - with our extra £140,000 in his hands - he delivered the promised goods at Lord's.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/92 ... -Test.html
In the most sensational sporting scandal ever, bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif delivered THREE blatant no-balls to order.
Their London-based fixer Mazhar Majeed, who let us in on the betting scam for £150,000, crowed "this is no coincidence" before the bent duo made duff deliveries at PRECISELY the moments promised to our reporter.
Armed with our damning dossier of video evidence, Scotland Yard launched their own probe into the scandal.
Millions around the world watched Pakistan star bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif deliver three no-balls in the Test against England on Thursday and Friday at the historic home of cricket, Lord's in London.
Unsuspecting fans packed the ground yesterday to watch Pakistan collapse as they were bowled out for 74 in their first innings and forced to follow on.
But today our shocking footage of the players' fixer Mazhar Majeed taking a massive £150,000 cash, and telling us EXACTLY when the no-balls would come, proves the game was RIGGED.
Having already trousered a £10,000 upfront deposit - which he insisted had gone to the stars - Majeed sat in our west London hotel room at the Copthorne Tara on Wednesday night and eagerly counted out the £140,000 balance of the bung in bundles of crisp £50 notes - our "entry ticket" into a huge betting syndicate.
Our undercover team was posing as front men for a Far East gambling cartel. In return for their suitcase of money Majeed then calmly detailed what would happen - and when - on the field of play next day, as a taster of all the lucrative information he could supply in future.
He promised: "I'm going to give you three no-balls to prove to you firstly that this is what's happening. They've all been organised, okay?
"This is EXACTLY what's going to happen, you're going to SEE these three things happen. I'm telling you, if you play this right you're going to make a lot of money, believe me!"
We can sensationally reveal Majeed identified young Pakistan captain Salman Butt as the ringleader of the band of cheats. He also named wicket keeper Kamran Akmal and boasted he had a total of SEVEN corrupt cricketers in his pocket, all banking huge sums from bookies and betting syndicates.
The scam, fuelled by greed, is a betrayal by the players not only of their sport but of their cricket-crazy homeland.
As millions back home in Pakistan struggle against hunger and disease amid devastating floods, the cheats were defiling the reputation of Lord's and lining their own pockets.
BRAGGED that the scam is rife and future games against England this summer are already earmarked for cheating.
CONFESSED his match-fixing around the world had netted shady customers MILLIONS.
REVEALED how he oversees cheating by using no-balls, specifying how many runs will be scored or conceded in certain overs, with signals such as changing gloves to confirm the fix is on.
ADMITTED he abuses his position as owner of non-league Croydon FC to launder his illicit gains.
BOASTED he even went on to the field of play personally to help a bowler tamper with a ball.
At one stage Majeed told us our syndicate could make "absolutely millions, millions" by paying him up to £450,000 a time for info on matches, then placing bets on the carefully choreographed outcome. And he tried to excuse the players' shameful behaviour, claiming: "These poor boys need to. They're paid peanuts."
Majeed said he had even opened Swiss bank accounts for the cheats to hide their ill-gotten gains.
We launched our investigation two weeks ago after a tip-off. The Pakistan side has long been dogged by match-fixing allegations. Only today has the full shocking extent been laid bare.
Property tycoon Majeed, 35, has a £1.8 million home in Surrey and is a familiar face at cricket grounds around the world. We infiltrated his criminal network posing as wealthy businessmen on the make.
Majeed turned up for our first meeting on Monday, August 16, at the Hilton in London's Park Lane, casually dressed in jeans and a brown sweater, He immediately started bragging of his his connections with the Pakistani team. "I manage ten of the players," he told us. "I do all their affairs like contracts, sponsorship, marketing, everything really. I work very closely with the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board)."
Our reporters told him they wanted to organise their own 20/20 tournament in the Middle East. Majeed claimed he would be able to provide his players for the right fee.
When our man assured Majeed the players would do well out of it, he immediately said with a wink: "I know what you're talking about because I know what goes on!"
Majeed then hinted at the extent of cheating in the game. . .
REPORTER: "If there's two or three that are on for the other side, the betting side, then good luck - they'll be really happy."
MAJEED: "There's more than two or three. Believe me. It's already set up. That's already there. I'm very wary speaking about this simply because I don't know you guys.
"I've been dealing with these guys for seven years, okay? Who we deal with and how we deal with it is very, very important. This is the main thing. I'm only dealing with certain people. How we do it and what we do is very, very crucial."
REPORTER: "You're already dealing with another party on this matter? Give us some tips as well if you've got any. Happy to cut us in?"
MAJEED: "Yeah I'll give you tips."
REPORTER: "If there's anything we need to know in the forthcoming match let me know. Happy to pay."
Majeed said he was worried our men could be wearing tape recorders and he would check them out before going further.
Two days later at the Bombay Brasserie Indian restaurant in central London, Majeed told us we had begun to gain his trust. He had spent the day at the Oval where Pakistan bowled England out for 233 on the first day of the third Test.
After a trusted source vouched for our credentials, Majeed relaxed and laid his cards on the table. . .
MAJEED: "I do feel that I can speak to you about this, okay? Now, yes. . . there is very big money in it."
REPORTER: "There's still? I know there was, but they clamped down on match fixing I heard."
MAJEED: "They've toned down match fixing a lot, yeah. They've made it very, very difficult in many, many, ways.
"These guys won't deal with just anybody. The only reason they'll deal with me is because they know I'm professional, they know my background, they've known me for so many years, yeah.
"I've been doing it with them, the Pakistani team, for about 2½ years. And we've made masses and masses of money." Later that night Majeed boasted how it was the players who got HIM into match-fixing. He told us: "The players would never tell anybody else They were the ones who actually approached me about this. This is the beauty of it.
"I was friends with them for four, five years and then they said this happens. I said really?"
OVER: Majeed leaves with the cash that fixed Lord's Test
Majeed then described how the betting scam operates. He reached into a carrier bag, pulled out a white Blackberry phone and flicked through a series of messages.
"I deal with an Indian party," he said. "They pay me for the information." Then Majeed explained how many cricket bets are placed on what he called "brackets" - events happening in a group of 10 overs.
If players score well in the first three overs punters would be likely to bet on that continuing for the next seven. But if the fixed players then deliberately STOP scoring or slow down, anybody in on it can "make a killing", said Majeed. The same happens with bowlers giving away runs or throwing no-balls.
Not only is Majeed's information invaluable to syndicates involved in spread betting - where wagers are staked on a range of possible outcomes - it is also golddust for shady bookies looking to manipulate the odds in their favour.
The following night - Thursday August 19 - Majeed demanded £10,000 then revealed to us there would be two no-balls in the following day's Oval play.
That fix was cancelled on the day. So was a promised maiden over by captain Salman Butt on the Saturday - final day of the Test England lost.
But just days later - with our extra £140,000 in his hands - he delivered the promised goods at Lord's.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11122388
A man has been arrested in connection with an alleged cricket betting scam carried out during the current test between Pakistan and England at Lord's.
The News of the World claims it gave £150,000 to a middleman who promised to arrange for Pakistan to bowl "no balls" during a match.
A 35-year-old man is being held on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
There has been no comment yet from the Pakistani cricket team.
The BBC's Andy Swiss said the allegations involved "very minor, very small details within the match that might seem ridiculously trivial to a lot of people".
But he added: "That sort of information is worth a huge amount of money in the betting world where you can put bets on the tiniest details within a cricket game".
And he suggested the allegations could affect the sport's reputation.
"Cricket prides itself on the integrity of its reputation for fair play.
"This is a difficult situation for cricket and there are going to be some uncomfortable questions for the Pakistan team when the match resumes," he said
-
boltonboris
- Immortal
- Posts: 14026
- Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 4:27 pm
Absolute joke. Feeling too much about this to write any more but if I was England I'd pull out of the one day series now. If Pakistan couldn't play a decent and honest 2 months cricket then there's no way that England should give them the honour of hosting them any further. The saddest part is the involvement of Mohammad Amir, a truely brilliant young talent and someone who would be a leading star of world cricket for years. There's no way he, or any of the others, should be allowed to play again after this.
-
Zulus Thousand of em
- Icon
- Posts: 5043
- Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:58 am
- Location: 200 miles darn sarf
Sadly, after a lot of pi$$ and wind, the ICC will allow them to play again.jimbo wrote:Absolute joke. Feeling too much about this to write any more but if I was England I'd pull out of the one day series now. If Pakistan couldn't play a decent and honest 2 months cricket then there's no way that England should give them the honour of hosting them any further. The saddest part is the involvement of Mohammad Amir, a truely brilliant young talent and someone who would be a leading star of world cricket for years. There's no way he, or any of the others, should be allowed to play again after this.
God's country! God's county!
God's town! God's team!!
How can we fail?
COME ON YOU WHITES!!
God's town! God's team!!
How can we fail?
COME ON YOU WHITES!!
-
wovlad
- Promising
- Posts: 413
- Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Underneath the squeaky floorboard, behind the kitchen dresser
It'll be a wrap on the knuckles and nothing more probably because of the involvement of Amir. He is such a prodigious talent that they'll do all they can to protect him. Bob Woolmer before his death was pressing the PCB to bring in lucrative central contracts for the players. Might have helped avoid this if they did'nt pay them peanuts. Its a kick in the teeth to the ECB as well who put on two tests against the Aussies at Headingly and Lords to help the PCB during the ban on home tests. Think the Headingly test actually cost Yorkshire CC money & now this. All the while Pakistan is trying to get back on its feet after the flooding and the people need there sport stars to help them recover. Its a disgrace and a life ban should be the only outcome, sadly I doubt it will happen.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England
-
Dujon
- Passionate
- Posts: 3340
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 1:37 am
- Location: Australia, near Sydney, NSW
- Contact:
As best I can gather the News of the World is not normally viewed as a paragon of excellence when it comes to unbiased reporting. However, in this case, (assuming what they have printed is honest and verifiable) they must have been sure of their ground to stir up this hornet's nest - and to stump up £150,000 in order to prove it.
Remember Darrell Hair - the umpire who caused a walk-off by the Pakistan team after calling them for ball tampering? I think he made some injudicious comments after the event, but who wouldn't under the circumstance? He was a pretty decent umpire in my opinion but he was hounded, accused of bias, accused of racism, removed from the international umpires panel and, eventually, retired.
True or not these accusations will bring added scrutiny of players' performances - a silly no-ball or run out, a simple catch dropped, a captain electing to bat or to field when every pundit in the world would have done the opposite.
As you have probably gathered, my faith in test cricket's inherent honesty has been eroded over the years. I don't support 'sledging' or 'gamesmanship' but they have been going on since sport activity of any kind was first contested. Maybe it's just human nature.
This problem though is quite different to that sort of shenanigans. Yes, games and races have been 'fixed' or their results 'pre-ordained' for ages, I admit that - but it's always gambling (i.e. money) as the cause. Maybe I'm a traditionalist of some kind or other, or perhaps a dreamer living in the past but, nevertheless, I am saddened that this blight has found its way into cricket. What next? Golf, the 'gentleman's game? (sorry ladies).
Remember Darrell Hair - the umpire who caused a walk-off by the Pakistan team after calling them for ball tampering? I think he made some injudicious comments after the event, but who wouldn't under the circumstance? He was a pretty decent umpire in my opinion but he was hounded, accused of bias, accused of racism, removed from the international umpires panel and, eventually, retired.
True or not these accusations will bring added scrutiny of players' performances - a silly no-ball or run out, a simple catch dropped, a captain electing to bat or to field when every pundit in the world would have done the opposite.
As you have probably gathered, my faith in test cricket's inherent honesty has been eroded over the years. I don't support 'sledging' or 'gamesmanship' but they have been going on since sport activity of any kind was first contested. Maybe it's just human nature.
This problem though is quite different to that sort of shenanigans. Yes, games and races have been 'fixed' or their results 'pre-ordained' for ages, I admit that - but it's always gambling (i.e. money) as the cause. Maybe I'm a traditionalist of some kind or other, or perhaps a dreamer living in the past but, nevertheless, I am saddened that this blight has found its way into cricket. What next? Golf, the 'gentleman's game? (sorry ladies).
It's just not cricket ........................-
superjohnmcginlay
- Passionate
- Posts: 3057
- Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:21 pm
Insufficient evidence!
http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakis ... 75246.html
But 3 more arrests.
http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakis ... 75263.html
hmm
http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakis ... 75246.html
But 3 more arrests.
http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakis ... 75263.html
hmm
They did not do it, they were framed!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket ... 964408.stmThe three Pakistan cricketers accused of corruption may have been set up, according to the country's high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan.
When asked whether Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who are being investigated for spot-fixing, had been framed, Hasan replied: "Yes."
Hasan claims the News of the World video allegedly exposing the scandal may have been made after the incident.
However, the paper said it "refuses to respond to such ludicrous allegations".
Asif and Amir are alleged to have bowled three no-balls on purpose at pre-determined times to facilitate betting coups after a "middle-man" accepted £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World.
The newspaper published the claims last Sunday, just days after the incidents were alleged to have taken place on the Thursday and Friday of the fourth Test at Lord's.
The cricketers Hasan referred to, all now at the centre of a police investigation, will miss the rest of their country's tour of England.
Before stating that he believed the players may have been framed, Hasan earlier on Thursday insisted the players were "innocent".
"The players have voluntarily offered not to be included [in the tour]," he said. "They want to clear their names first."
Later he emerged from a Pakistan Cricket Board inquiry in London to tell the BBC that the News of the World videotape of its meeting with the "middle-man" - cricket agent Mazhar Majeed - was inconclusive.
"You [the media] are jumping to conclusions, because no-balls are not taped like that," he said.
"We have not seen videos - what the time [was when they were taken], what the date [was]... whether they were taken before or after the match."
"Do you have answers to the questions?"
When asked if the video could be fake, he replied: "You [the media] must know better because you are the media people."
-
sessiontips
- Hopeful
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:19 am
Re:
Hello there,jaffka wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:51 pmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11122388
A man has been arrested in connection with an alleged cricket betting scam carried out during the current test between Pakistan and England at Lord's.
The News of the World claims it gave £150,000 to a middleman who promised to arrange for Pakistan to bowl "no balls" during a match.
A 35-year-old man is being held on Cricket Betting Tips of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
There has been no comment yet from the Pakistani cricket team.
The BBC's Andy Swiss said the allegations involved "very minor, very small details within the match that might seem ridiculously trivial to a lot of people".
But he added: "That sort of information is worth a huge amount of money in the betting world where you can put bets on the tiniest details within a cricket game".
And he suggested the allegations could affect the sport's reputation.
"Cricket prides itself on the integrity of its reputation for fair play.
"This is a difficult situation for cricket and there are going to be some uncomfortable questions for the Pakistan team when the match resumes," he said
I saw this on youtube that cops arresting Pakistani players because they are involving in the scam. In my opinion, the player destroyed their future, their fame, and country name by participating in this type of illegal activity. Betting is for viewers for the purpose of entertainment but it's not for the players to become a part of it...
-
TANGODANCER
- Immortal
- Posts: 43215
- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:35 pm
- Location: Between the Regency and the Rubaiyat and forever trying to light penny candles from stars.
Re: Re:
Er, it was seven years ago? Just a friendly reminder to new posters about adverising by the way...sessiontips wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:43 amHello there,jaffka wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:51 pmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11122388
A man has been arrested in connection with an alleged cricket betting scam carried out during the current test between Pakistan and England at Lord's.
The News of the World claims it gave £150,000 to a middleman who promised to arrange for Pakistan to bowl "no balls" during a match.
A 35-year-old man is being held on Cricket Betting Tips of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
There has been no comment yet from the Pakistani cricket team.
The BBC's Andy Swiss said the allegations involved "very minor, very small details within the match that might seem ridiculously trivial to a lot of people".
But he added: "That sort of information is worth a huge amount of money in the betting world where you can put bets on the tiniest details within a cricket game".
And he suggested the allegations could affect the sport's reputation.
"Cricket prides itself on the integrity of its reputation for fair play.
"This is a difficult situation for cricket and there are going to be some uncomfortable questions for the Pakistan team when the match resumes," he said
I saw this on youtube that cops arresting Pakistani players because they are involving in the scam. In my opinion, the player destroyed their future, their fame, and country name by participating in this type of illegal activity. Betting is for viewers for the purpose of entertainment but it's not for the players to become a part of it...
Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 60 guests