After the Al-Jazeera episode of spot-fixing, Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has now claimed that bookie has approached him for numerous occasions in order to indulge in corrupt activities. In an interview aired on Samaa TV on Sunday, Akmal claimed that while he was once offered $200,000 to not play two deliveries, he was also offered money to skip matches against India.
In the interview, Umar said, “I was once offered $200,000 for leaving two deliveries. I was also offered to skip matches against India. It was our first match against India in the 2015 World Cup… in fact, every match I play against India, they offer me money to make some excuse and opt out of the game. But I have told those people that I am very sincere about playing for Pakistan and to not talk to me on this topic ever again.”
According to ICC anti-corruption code 2.4.4 and 2.4.5, players are bound to report all the corrupt approaches and failure of doing so carries a minimum punishment of five years.
In an official statement, the ICC has released that they have launched an investigation and wants to speak to the player at the earliest. The release read: “The ICC is aware of a recent interview given by Umar Akmal. Whilst we note that there is no suggestion that any ‘fix’ actually took place, the ICC is reliant on players to report any corrupt approaches in a timely manner. This is critical to our efforts to gather information on potential ‘fixers’ and to disrupt and prevent their efforts to corrupt the game. As such we are taking Akmal’s comments very seriously.”
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It further added, “We have launched an investigation and wish to speak to Mr. Akmal as a matter of urgency. Our Anti-Corruption Unit is committed to working to uphold integrity in cricket and would urge anyone with any information to contact us via [email protected].”
The Pakistan Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Unit has served a notice to Akmal and asked him goe an appearance before them on June 27.
Update: Notice served to Umar Akmal. He has been asked to appear before PCB Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) on June 27.
— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) June 24, 2018
In the interview, Akmal further said: “Whenever I get a call [while playing international cricket] I hand out the number to security officers telling them ‘your friend has called, handle him yourself’.”
