Most people in Pakistan and India who have some interest in cricket know that the whole "betting and match fixing scenarios" originate from the underworld cartels with their home in Mumbai and Dubai and have there influence in Karachi also.So much money is involved and stakes are high.Once these people approach a player then really speaking the players do not have an option.These cartels are mainly Indian in origin therefore Pakistan is the number one target due to the traditional rivalery
between the two.

.

Are you out of your mind. Its easy to Blame India. Dont you have your own individuality. They are not kids. They knew all these and the players who are involved are betraying the nation. The simple reason is your players run behind the money.

Pakistani players are the only ones who are affected it seems.

I absolutely agree with the comments that the epicentre is india which might be under influence by the underworld over there ,and something to do with politics in order to weak pakistan cricket and make pakistan feel low in the eyes of other countries , i believe pakistan is always victimise by india in other matters too,and they can do so because they getting as they get grow. ICC Should focus on indian behaviour in this matter and invistigate it further in india and dubai ...

Trust the PCB to find a way to blame everyone else but itself. No one seems to note the obvious... to an external observer it seems like a clear case of systemic and structural corruption. Blaming India and its bookies for its own problems seems lame.

Mr. Siddiqui,

I agree with the first part of your comments that the origin is from Mumbai and Dubai based underworld which has strong base in Karachi. However, their reason to aim Pakistani players is not because of or country rivalry or so. I think the main reason is that they are the easy targets. Current Indian players are very rich with lots of endorsements and with IPL. Therefore, it is not that easy to buy them. However, because of the economic state of Pakistan, they cannot earn anything other than their match fees. If you look at other cricketing countries excluding Srilankans and Bagladeshis, most of the othe other countries are very rich and they pay their players well and they have other sources of income. Therefore, unless Pakistan's economy makes some big strides, Pak players will remain easy targets. In India also, from mid 90's to mid 2000's we had the same issue including the Azharuddin incidents.

Whoever runs these illegal betting centres are not patriots. They are willing to sell their own country for money. So it is stupid to think that they will aim Pak players to revenge Pakistan.

It seems that Zulqarnain, who a day earlier has been fined by the team management for not following the discipline, and threatened by his insecure career with Pakistani team due to kamran akmal and upcoming and promising wicketkeeper adnan akmal (brother of Kamran Akmal), try to get rid of his frustration by performing this act, further he took a chance to try his future with English team if at all he will get some permanent status in England, however what he has said cannot be brushed away.

Thank you CNN for this article, after going through months of shameful acts of Pakistanis (yes, not just players), at least someone comes forward and show some courage.
I hope Haider gets a safety net from UK. And a feedback to commenter Sidiqui, I think you represent the very nature of Pakistani society trying to blame our own problems on someone else, just as I am ashamed of match-fixing players, I am ashamed of you and how you try to paint everything with an Indian hand behind every ill.

SASiddiqui, is absolutely right.

Salam,

well i think that he just wants to get him and his family in London. This is all scam and he can't give a valid reason for his run away. He was given a great opportunity, but he failed. I am not convinced by his actions and there is no reason to flea like this, he should have told the authorities in Dubai and the PCB about all this from day one. If he was not guilty why he hided all the matter from other senior players. They could have guided him. As he was a struggling WC so are many other players. It doesn't mean that they all should follow his lead.

Another aspect can be that he may have got even more bigger bid to leave the team without any announcement. As the last match between the teams was the tie breaker.

Thanks

The ICC is too corrupt on its own, sitting in the tax-haven of Dubai to even launch a credible exercise into putting its house in order. Example: Lalit Modi and the IPL corruption / match fixing, why is the ICC not acting on that? The BCCI, which is the real power behind the ICC, is itself hand-in-glove with the illegal bookies.

In response to SASiddiqui's comment above, I would like to say that he is yet another example of how Pakistan is. They always succeed in finding somebody but themselves to put the blame on for anything and everything that's wrong with their country.

And for the Indian Cricket, I think they have already grown over petty match fixing old fashion ways. They are after bigger things and bigger bucks with gigs like IPL. So, why don't you advise your geniuses in PCB to do be grownups. Match fixing now is a parlor trick, kiddo.

Of course the players have an option. it's called "sportsmanship." It's called "courage." It's called "Cricket".

the solution is simple: Ban Pakistan outright, 10 years.

time and time again Pakistan has demonstrated it cannot play the "game" of cricket. The Pakistan team (and its management) is a cancer on the game and has to be isolated, if not totally cut free.

@SA Siddiqui ... I am from Paakistaan ... and in fact from Karachi.
Very clever of you to mention the facts, but smudge them with a slant
Lahore is the hub of illegal gambling, not Karachi. Everyone knows that and it is published news.

This problem in Paakistaan is a punjabi specific problem, which is a problem at large in the society. Something that is referred to as punjabi-gardi in the local language.
All the corrupt players are from Lahore (punjabi) and the cartel that is hell bent on destroying Paakistaan cricket, for the sake of punjabi-garid and their own pockets, is exclusively punjabi.
This kind of corruption is commonplace in Paakistaan. Punjabis are known for their unfair tactics, in the society as a whole, of snatching other people's rights. Anyone who knows an iota about Paakistaan, knows this.

Sure, India might be playing a role in defaming Paakistaan ... but it is the punjabis that are the traitors to their motherland.

It is time we rise our voices against injustices in the society as a whole!

What ever he did is wrong. We have to find the root causes of these issues, there is big lobby behind all these incidents happened recently. Big gambling is going in India, why the ICC is so scared to have report them. We have to be strong to hold all these problems and will have to be aware of all these posibilities happening in cricket. Therefore we need rules and regulations and the most important its implementation. Because cricket is the soul game of south Asia

Wow Siddiqui your are all messed up. We Pakistanis need to acknowledge that the country is broken before we can even attempt to try and fix it. Living in a state of denial and passing the buck as you want to do is not going to get us out of the hole we have dug. We are messed up and the only way to get back on track is to acknowledge it no matter how diffuclt.

Ban Pakistani cricketers until they sort out this issue. I am flabber gasted at how cricket is run these days in Pakistan. Just shows how the country has gone to the dogs. It is no surprise that all the Indian Mafia is based in Pakistan and in Karachi so this has to be an effort which must be supra cricket, where all these gangs are busted! But alas the amount of wealth on offer is too large for any one to act.

I think the best solution is to BAN PAKISTAN from playing cricket and to go behind all the rats involved in these cases

@ Tariq Qureshi you are a cancer to the unity of Pakistan. How racist can you get,

I think we all are missing the core issue highlighted by Alex – Authorities need to get a grip and quickly ! No one knows how well other players are best at betting and never let know of their crime unless parties defect or for some other reasons i.e the case of Hansie cronie etc.

i think he is right and even i am in that place i do same as he do

@Tariq Qureshi
I really feel sorry for you Mr.Tariq. You actually think its the Punjabis who are responsible for all of this. You point of view is in general to malign the reputation of Punjabis of Pakistan. Like the epicentre for all things evil in Pakistan is Punjab. It is a sad fact that after decades of existence we cannot stop being racists. Issue or no issue some twerp usually gets up and say such things that really puts a big question mark on our integrity as a nation..... Keep on pointing fingers to each other and surely we will rise to glory one day...

"No one denies that a massive, outlawed gambling industry exists in Pakistan, with its hub in Lahore."

Only the slanted punjabis are trying to blame Karachi.

Brother, I am telling the world as to what goes on in the streets of Karachi and Pakistan.

Tell me that the team did not fix matches in Asia Cup 2010 and the beginning of England tour to remove Afridi, so that their own guy could get in.

Sir, using sweet sounding words don't make the problem go away.

root cause are in india ,all the bookies are indians ,BAN Indian cricket.

world cricket should support haider and pak cricket.ICC is poor organization of cricket

Mr. Kardar, ever heard of the term 'noora-kushti' ... and it follows from that ... noora-anything .. meaning it is fixed beforehand. It is a culture in Punjab my friend. Hiding your face in the sand won't do!

i wonder his inoncence .. ICC has to lookafter Bookies and their origination only from one country

Guys plz stop blaming each other. Till now we don't know results from investigation. It could come out to be any thing. Wait for the results. It's wrong that he left without informing officials. Don't make fun of your nation, it's fight that is killing our nation whereas the GDP of our neighboring country is touching 9 %.

First step to repentance is acknowledging ones mistakes. I am merely pointing out the problem that has been 'the cancer' to the Pakistani society. It has been destroying Pakistan for decades now .. and now it has gotten to such a point that people do things on the international level to defame their motherland .. and are brave enough to deny it, to defend it.

Shame on you so called Pakistanis, who are always 'punjabis first'.

Everyone knows the status of PCB and Pakistan Cricket. I do not have any sympathy for the 'run away' cricketer. In almost every sports you get threats but you need guts to face them, not 'runaway'. I have a feeling that this was pre-planned and may more cricketers follow this process in a hope that UK will welcome them with open arms and grant them police protection-from tax payer's money and a home to live ! The 'runaway' player should have follow the PCB's guide lines,if there are any, before taking an 'easy' option. Pakistan cricket should be banned from international cricket until all acts are sorted out and strong measures are taken to eliminate such occurances in the future.

Pakistan cricket is being run by "butts" not by brain....

A Another, why don't you suggest that Indai should be banned after the Rania incidednt in Indai.

Your double-standards are beyond belief!!!

A Another, why don't you suggest that Indai should be banned after the Rania incident in SRI LANKA.

Your double-standards are beyond belief!!!

sur, be ccareful wha you wissh for, you'll find all the rats to be Indian bookies.

@Tariq Qureshi
Im not so ignorant neither is anybody else that they dont know what is going on where and who is involved in what anywhere in our country. 'Acknowledging ones mistakes',yes your right we must do it but not by pointing fingers at each other and playing the ever so popular blame game that in a way has become hard wired in our DNA. Look at you, no matter what you were getting at earlier but you started with a serious allegation which is more or less quite delplorable. Neither of us are doing any good by making such comments and i dont care what the world thinks of us but to me what really matters is the fact that we people are still stuck with such negative stereotypical mindsets which are damaging for our nation...if only we can get over such stuff and play a conducive role rather than wasting ourselves...

Zulkarnain showed lack of spine and character. But there is no evidednce of fixing here. The recent most evidence is agaisnt an Indian player called Rania, who was seen repeadtedly mingling with a bookie in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Board repoorted this but no concrete action has ben taken yet agaisnt this individual.

I really admire his courage. If more people would have the guts to do what he has done maybe there would be less corruption in the world.

I'm disappointed with Pakistan Sport Minister comment about Haider. Government ought to protect their public, but he berates him instead of protects...I see that's why corruptions invade deep into the country.
There seems to be massive mastermind behind this issue, too much for a individual to cope on one's own with. Haider is an unfortunate prey, caught in the middle of spider web...he is struggling and screaming to escape from it, needs someone to listen to and help him before being eaten.

this in principle is the topic–cleaking or ganging up. when groups share a plan to twart normal course of events and fairness they are in fact causing harm beyond recognition. This happens in work places also not only in games. Some use tools such as religion or color to cause harm. This harm justifies an individual seeking asylum–it is a psychological head trauma and one has to run away as fast as possible and seek asylum among others who offer love and protection.
this shows that the world has places to seek rest –as Christ said come unto me and I will give you rest you are my children-.
This cricketer is no coward he should be rewarded for BRAVERY and CLEANLINESS.

This article ended up as a flamecore for people bashing other people countries and sadly also racism... Shame on you... Well back on topic... Its always easy to say that someone did wrong but what if it was your family in danger? What would you do? Would u get drrp into curroption or give up the game for the sake of your famuily? Just think about that for a while.

How is it that Pakistan has their hand out collecting aid money from half a dozen countries and yet fields an international cricket squad? I would be embarrassed by this alone if I was a Pakistani citizen.

What Zulqarnain Haider did might seem like an act of stupidity and treason, especially for non playing cricket world.

By refusing to be part of a corrupt system was an act of bravery. Bravery and honesty is a very rare commodity amongst sportsman now days.

The problem of match fixing is so deep rooted in the Sub Continent that Haider did not know who to trust and whom too turn to because it is hard to say who is involved and who isn't.

The irony is what he did might have saved his life or it might have sign his dead warrant. Zulqarnain Haider I salute you.

I am saddened to see some of the comments.
India is NOT a bad country or people;in fact apart from religion there are more similarities than differences between Indian and Pakistanies but; can the Indians deny the big criminal cartels in India?Can Pakistanies deny criminal cartels in Karachi?Of course not . Epicentre of cricket in Pakistan is surely in Lahore.Authorities in Lahore are equally to be blamed.
In case of Haider I think it is not the money but an issue of DEATH THREATS; friends, think if this happens to you or your family!
My vote is that this cricketer is to be admired and saluted for his brave action.It is no surprise that he still loves cricket and would like to come back,at least I think so.

How come its only Pakistan players always getting cought in problems? cos they run behind money ..
what u expect from pakistan right now they are the bankcorrupt country

Hi. I think, Saddique is right but it is not the matter of India and Pakistan. Off course there are many bookies mainly from India and they try to approach easy target. But We cannot blame Indian. Underworld is so strong in India and Dubai and try to influenced the game. ICC should try to save the cricket by taking stick measure.

OK now that everyone has vented his spleen about Pakistan VS india(which I incidently think is totally uncalled for) let us talk about what should be done now apart from banning Pakistan or India.
One thing is very likely that criminal groups can only function under the umbrella of corrupt politicians and burocrats .Thus this is where one should look for answers; I would add to these the paid or threatened media reporters also.
So then let us have some ideas to deal with that tall order.

Well, It may be true that majority of bookies are Indians. but its totally wrong to call match-fixing an Indian propaganda to defame Pakistan. Bookies are only money minded people & they can go to any extent to earn money. Pakistani Players are very soft targets coz of their economic conditions & they feel very jealous to see how Indian players are living a king's life...that leads them to match-fixing. I m sure those Players who do not want to matc fixing are forced to do that may be by senior players or may be the people of PCB. All Want Money MOney & Money.

When the fixers approach players and suggest they will not be selected unless the players work with them gives me a hint that few in PCB are also involved in this mess, directly or indirectly. Time and again when a player or a former girl friend of one talk about how widespread this problem is within Pakistan cricket you see some in PCB or close to PCB take stab at the person directly citing potential ulterior motives. All this gives me indication that PCB might be part of this fixing mess.

Why the keeper did not seek help from PCB? may be know more about PCB tha what they can say in media..

Parting thought.. may be old keeper agreed to fixed, but could not keep his job due to ICC reservations about some players who had to be left out - now fixers want the new keeper, whosoever he is, to fulfil the promise. Such are the rules of underworld. Too many AKMLs in this teams gives me doubts about both them and the PCB who keeps selects them.

in response to SASiddiqui i would like to let him know that the most wanted underworld don wanted by India is in karachi enjoying the support from the pakistani govt.
I think PCB and the pakistani govt make more money from betting than making money from advertising

WHAT ROLE ICC HAVE IN PENALIZING CRICKETERS FOR THEIR OWN FAILURES TO CHECK BOOKMAKERS TO FIX MATCHES. WHY ICC/SCOTLAND YARD ARREST THE BOOKMAKERS AND PUNISH THEM. IT IS NO USE PENALIZING THE CRICKERS WHO ARE OUT IN THE MIDDLE TO PLAY FOR THEIR COUNTRIES AND WIN.

I am baffled by the comments of some people here...who are trying to accuse India for the present state of Pakistan.
Someone commented India trying to sling mud at Pakistan so that it can grow….Use some logic man…try to think with a healthy mind.
If someone wants to prosper, would he look for a healthy neighborhood or would he dig trench holes around him so that he can grow.
India is so busy with its set of internal politics, corruption and regional issues. But still it is making some progress because of the positive attitude of its people.
So kindly do not always try to divert your problems to the neighborhood.

Kris do not be baffled, this happens always to cover their own shortcomings. PCB selection policy always decide in favour of players
who can be part of match fixing so that officials could enjoy their share.
This needs to be thoroughly probed and should not be limited to Pakistan only.

Hats off to Haider that he chose not to give in to the underworld, that has plagued both India and Pakistan in many ways, cricket being only one of the many on their list. Haider has gone on to show that money is not the only criteria, love for the game and pride in playing for one's country are still priority for true lovers of the game. Its a shame that the ICC, BCCI, PCB have not taken a strong stand on this issue. The fans of cricket are disappointed and are losing interest in watching a game where you are not sure if its that last 6 that won the game or a slimy briefcase of money.

Starting from Hasan's comment that "this needs to be thoroughly probed and should not be limited to Pakistan only" Scotland yard would be absolutely blind if they cannot connect the dots and formulate the bigger picture.They took extremely swift action and went in to interview the players the same night which must have been very encouraging for the players and they must have felt very secure.Also the timing of the tabloid's story was absolutely immaculate.
If the great Scotland yard does not come up with a credible result after their extensive investigation then one can say that Pakistan was playing against England with News of the world as Englands wicket keeper; the Sun at mid on;and Scotland yard as the referee;and the bookies at other various positions;commentator being the BBC (more than 40% shares of BBC's Asian service is owned by the Indian Govt )
The only mistake therefore made by Haider is that he flew to UK.I think UK,Dubai,or Pakistan or for that matter India are the same as regard to the Bookie's sphere of influence .If Haider had gone to Australia or Newzeland he would probably had a better chance of a fair deal
So let us see what the "authorities" come up with or whether the matter is dropped in the "usual" manner.

Siddiqui Sahab, When did the BBC Asian service went public and when did India's Govt availed the oppurtunity to buy 40% of the shares??

Its not just you but, a lot of people from in Pakistani media too, just come up with such statistics, figures and conspiracies to prove their point or hide their corruption and incompetence.

1.) I will give you a statistics now, for every 100 Rs taken as loan from World Bank or IMF for development purposes, only 2.1Rs reach the people to whom it was addressed(IMF report on South Asia – 2004).

2.) For every 100Rs generated by Pakistan's economy, 38Rs are used by the Government to pay back these IMF loans(same report).

Bookies had a massive spread in India, but somehow the system was able to make the cricketers immune to this corruption. Why and how its just the Pakistani system that has failed to do so, or how much does it actually gains from such acts is for you to look into the retrospect.

If you distrust your neighbours, you should blame them, but atleast with an open and equal eye to the dirt in your system as well. To live in denial and to misguide other with stupid consipiracies almost proves that you are a defaulter here.

Lala Jee ;refer to the mudsluging among the Indians in the post Commonwealth games;so much for corruption .
Bookies & crime cartels in India(as I have said before) work; not without the backing of Indian politicians & are given a free hand as long as they do not interfere with Indian cricket..
People usually blame others of " conspiracy theory " when there is no sensible answer to a valid argument.
BBC did not go public; but read the BBC financing details and you will have your answer; even in a recent audit BBC refused to divulge the names of all its' financial" donors" .
But I am glad at least you admit to the dirt in your system and have an open and equal eye.
The point here is to highlight the root cause of the trouble and point it out ; accepting that a problem exists ,is the first step towards removing that problem. Pakistan bashing is really not going to solve anything.

Pitty you ppl! Blaming India will not resolve roblems in Pakistan cricket. Look for solution..
Pay your sportsperson well, and you might see them do well and not fall in traps set by bookies!
Reality check is required.

The whole issue has been shifted to mud slinging (India/Pakistan).In this
manner the real issue and solution thereof cannot be found and shows our immaturity.
.
If it continues like this and no serious effort is made to root out the problem which is corruption in the cricket teams and officials, no improvement should be expected.

Hasan

cheap visa scam to move his family over to the UK,sorry move.

Hasan ; What you say is absolutely true.
I think for starters this problem should be highlighted in the news media,and thus to build up a pressure on the officials and the POLITICIANS to come up with tangible results; we may see some progress then.

There are two parties to fixing bookies (India usually) and players Pakistani (usually). If India was to legalize betting in cricket it would reduce fixing and underworld claims. Pakistn on the other hand need to analyze their own team and PCB to remove corruption from within. Provide long term security to players, increase pay outs, etc. We can point fingers at India (partially), but,100% blame rests on Pakistani players and the Board. This is not the first time such accusations have be levelled at Pakistan; other nations have taken actions I would like to know how often have we punished our cricketers.

@Tariq Qureshi,

Please let me know where did you graduate from,

'the cancer' to the Pakistani society
we are all cancer to pakistan not only punjabi but urdu, sindhi,pashtoon, etc. I am urdu speaking but do not blame other for my mistakes.

SHAME ON U

instead of tryin to follow what went on in zulqurnain's head wen he took this decision, ppl here are talkin like a bunch of crazy boozed up soccer fanz..wz india got to do with him quittin cricket? btw if india is involved, its only coz the betting rings in cricket are run outta the HQ- karachi by a certain mr. dawood ibrahim,(the same man held responsible for the mumbai terror attacks of the 90's) a very amenable and good man to the pak govt.if the pakistanis want to clean up their cricket, arrest that guy..but no they d even deny that he lives in pakistan while the rest of the world has all the proof of his existence and dealings..so pls to all the pakistanis on this forum, look inside urselves b4 u start trashin another country.
btw i read a post here that states, zulq. was scared he would loose his place to kamran akmal or his younger bro, wow thz a scary thought ( lemme put it this way – my grandma would make a better keeper than monsieur kamran akmal) and the younger bro..i dont know bout him so i reserve comment on tht...but if these 2 were his competition, he neednt have quit cricket coz mr. kamran would have anywz been dropped after a series or two..he is such a shyyyt of a keeper, even amateur keepers across the cricketing spread of this great world would not loose an afternoon of siesta over him..hell make wasim akram the keeper and he d do a better job..so pls stop wit this kamran obssession and look at facts objectively.