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The Justice Quayyum Report

The Commission started its inquiry on 9th of September 1998 and summoned various persons together with evidence regarding the matter under reference.

The persons who were called to testify in this regard included former cricketers and officials of Pakistan Cricket Board, namely (in order of appearance):

Mr. Sarfraz Nawaz
Mr. Yawar Saeed Butt
Mr. Arif Ali Khan Abbasi
Mr. Javed Burki
Mr. Basit Ali
Mr. Haroon Rashid
Mr. Salim Malik
Mr. Ijaz Ahmad
Mr. Rameez Raja
Mr. Aaqib Javaid
Mr. Ata-ur-Rehman
Dr. Amir Aziz
Dr. Zafar Altaf
Mr. Aamir Sohail
Dr. Dan Keisal
Mr. Wasim Akram
Mr. Waqar Younus
Mr. Rashid Latif
Mr. Intikhab Alam
Mr. Saleem Pervez
Mr. Khalid Mahmood
Mr. Saeed Anwar
Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad
Mr. Inzamam-ul-Haq
Mr. Imran Khan
Mr. Javed Miandad
Mr. Majid Khan
Mr. Saqlain Mushtaq
Mr. Moin Khan
Mr. Shahid Afridi
Mr. Azhar Mahmood
Mr. Akram Raza
Mr. Zahid Fazal

In addition to above, following Sports Journalists were also examined by the Commission:-

Ms. Fareshteh Gati-Aslam
Ms. Kameela Hayat
Mr. Imtiaz Sipra
Mr. Shahid Sheikh

Three Australian players were also examined, namely:
Mr. Mark Waugh
Mr. Mark Taylor
Mr. Shane Warne

Various other persons have also been examined by the Commission whose names either appeared during the course of statements by other persons or whose names appeared in newspapers or other media during the course of investigation by the Commission. In this regard the following persons appeared before the Commission:-

Mr. Shaukat Javed, DIG Police Lahore Range.
Mr. Naeem Gulzar
Mr. Raja Aftab Iqbal
Mr. Raja Zafar Ali Iqbal alias 'Jojo'
Mr. Zia-ul-Haq, son of Ata-ul-Haq
Mr. Chaudhry Muhammad Khalid
Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Ghani
Mr. Muneeb-ul-Haq son of Atta-ul-Haq
Mr. Akhtar Majeed Bhatti, SHO, Qila Gujar Singh, Lahore.
Mr. Aamer Malik
Mr. Muhammad Usman Ahmad, Executive Magistrate.
Mr. Muhammad Younis
Mr. Qaiser Ali Shah
Sarfaraz Nawaz: The first person to appear before the Commission of Inquiry was former cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz. Sarfraz Nawaz was of the opinion that betting on cricket started in 1979-'80 when Pakistan was on the tour of India under the captaincy of Mr. Asif Iqbal. He was of the opinion that this spread to Sharjah and it was from there that match-fixing started on a larger scale. He was of the opinion that the 1987 World Cup semifinal against Australia at Lahore was fixed and the main culprits were Javed Miandad and two other players. In 1993-'94, Sarfraz Nawaz deposed that he was informed by Ch. Khalid alias Gitti in the presence of Manzoor alias Churra and Aslam Shami that Salim Malik was called to Lahore during the tour of Sri Lanka and the match was fixed. Mr. Salim Malik was allegedly paid Rs.40 lacs for fixing this match. In this match Pakistan were 79/1 at one stage but were all out for 149, which clearly showed the mala-fides of the players, according to Mr. Nawaz, and that they were playing under some pre-arranged scheme. Mr. Sarfraz Nawaz was also of the view that the brothers of Salim Malik and Wasim Akram were bookies and the same could be judged by comparison of their assets. He also opined that Mr. Ijaz Ahmad and Salim Malik were involved in gambling at the domestic level too. In October, 1994 in a match between National Bank and Habib Bank, Salim Malik was paid Rs. 10 Lacs.

Fareshteh Gati-Aslam, Sports Journalist for 'The News': The next person to appear was Ms. Fareshteh Gati-Aslam, Sports Journalist for "The News". Ms. Gati-Aslam was of the view that Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad were primarily responsible for match-fixing. She deposed that, according to her, match-fixing started during the English tour of 1992. Similarly, in New Zealand during the last test match and the last one day, the players performed so badly that it made her feel that match-fixing was taking place. It may be mentioned here that Ms. Gati-Aslam refers to the same match in which Ata-ur-Rehman has given a sworn affidavit to the effect that he was asked by Wasim Akram to bowl badly during the test match at Christ Church, New Zealand (Exh. 2). Ms. Gati also deposed that the 1996 World Cup's Quarter-Final between India and Pakistan at Bangalore was fixed and that Mr. Dan Keisel, the Physiotherapist, had informed her that Wasim Akram was faking his shoulder injury. She also deposed that Aaqib Javed had been asked to take Rs. 50 lacs and a Pajero by Mr. Saleem Pervez of the National Bank of Pakistan so that he could also be one of the members on the take and be included in the National team. When Aaqib refused, he got an indirect message from Wasim Akram that he would never be included in the team while Wasim Akram was the captain. According to her, the following players were clean:-

Mr. Rashid Latif
Mr. Azhar Mahmood
Mr. Shoaib Akhtar
Mr. Aamer Sohail; and other junior players.
Yawar Saeed: The next to appear was Mr. Yawar Saeed who was the manager of the team in 1996-'97. He was of the view that all the members of the team showed 100% commitment and were not involved in match-fixing.

Arif Ali Abbasi: Mr. Arif Ali Abbasi, the longest serving official of the Pakistan Cricket Board, was next to appear. He deposed that rumors about match-fixing started in 1979 during the captaincy of Asif Iqbal. He alleged that there was a bet on "who will win the toss" and further alleged that the Pakistan Captain having tossed the coin in the air, informed the Indian Captain that the latter had won the toss before the coin landed on the ground. Mr. Arif Ali Abbasi was of the opinion that apart from this there were no signs of match-fixing or gambling. During his tenure in the Ad-hoc Committee, there was a revolt against Wasim Akram and he was removed as Captain. Mr. Majid Khan was made the Manager. Mr. Majid Khan had received telephone calls during the South African tour that the players were throwing away their matches. Then started the tour of Sri Lanka. In that tour, Mr. Intikhab Alam alleged that Mr. Basit Ali, a test player, had confessed before him that he had indulged in match-fixing. Then came the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Salim Malik was the Captain. Mr. Arif Abbasi found that the team's performance was questionable and the Ad-hoc Committee requested to go to South Africa and investigate. Saleem Altaf, who was a Member of the Selection Committee, was sent to South Africa but came back with nothing to report. Before the Zimbabwe series, Australian cricket team came to Pakistan and played in three test matches. No allegation was made during this tour. However, four or five months later, a senior Australian journalist, Phil Wilkins informed Mr. Arif Abbasi that three players had signed affidavits against the Pakistani Captain Salim Malik accusing him of trying to bribe the Australians to lose the first test match in Karachi. Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim was appointed to investigate into this matter. However, because of lack of evidence, Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim announced his judgement that Salim Malik was not guilty. During his tenure, Mr. Arif Abbassi maintained that he never came across any proof against any player including Salim Malik, Wasim Akram and Ijaz Ahmad. He also maintained that before going to India, Mr. Wasim Akram was nursing an injury and had a bandaged arm and ribcage. Also that after the retirements of Rashid Latif and Basit Ali, Mr. Intikhab Alam was given a show-cause notice after the Zimbabwe tour for not reporting the allegation against Basit Ali.

Javed Burki: Mr. Javed Burki, who was Chairman of the Selection Committee from 1989 to September, 1992 and Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee of PCB in 1994 also appeared. He was asked by the President of Pakistan to look into the allegations surrounding Pakistani cricket team. The Vice-Captain Mr. Rashid Latif, had accused Mr. Salim Malik of match-fixing during the South African tour in 1995. During his stay in Harare, Rashid Latif personally informed Mr. Burki that Salim Malik and other members of the team - although he did not name them - were indulging in match-fixing. Mr. Burki stated that when he was leaving the Board to the new set up, he had recommended that Salim Malik should never play for Pakistan again and that Ijaz Ahmad and Wasim Akram should be warned. He said he was sure that match-fixing and betting was going on in the Pakistani cricket team. During the Singer Trophy in Sri Lanka and in the summer of 1994, these allegations first appeared in the Press and there were detailed articles in the Friday Times regarding the match that was thrown away in Sri Lanka. During that tour, Salim Malik rung up Mr. Burki and asked for permission to fly to Pakistan so that he could attend a wedding ceremony. Mr. Burki gave him permission but it was alleged that during his visit he struck a deal with Mr. Khalid Gitti to fix one of the matches in the Singer Trophy. Although Saeed Anwar deposed to him that he was asked not to play well during this match, Anwar never made the statement in writing. In the reception arranged by the President's House in honor of Australian and Pakistani, Salim Malik is stated to have offered bribes to two Australian cricketers Mr. Mark Waugh and Shane Warne. Mr. Burki was of the opinion that the allegations were made public by the Australians after our own Vice Captain, Mr. Rashid Latif, accused his Captain for match-fixing. The person who claimed to have had direct knowledge of match-fixing was named by Mr. Javaid Burki as Mr. Naeem Gulzar, c/o Lahore Gymkhana.

Kamala Hayat: Next to appear was Ms. Kamala Hayat who was working as a journalist in England. She had also traveled to South Africa. She claimed that an Englishman by the name of David Minro had over-heard three Pakistani cricketers namely Mushtaq Ahmad, Wasim Akram and Ijaz Ahmad discussing amongst themselves that the next match in England was fixed and this match was later lost by Pakistan. She also deposed that she had no direct evidence in her possession.

Basit Ali: Next to appear was Mr. Basit Ali who was a member of the Pakistani squad from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Basit deposed that he received a call at 8:00 a.m., a day before the Final of the Australasia Cup in Sharjah in 1994, made by a person by the name of Raqeeb who offered him Rs. 10 Lacs if he would get himself out for less than 10 runs. According to Mr. Basit Ali, he informed the Manager, Mr. Intikhab Alam, who called Mr. Basit and the rest of the Pakistani Cricket team to his room at 1:00 p.m. to swear on the Holy Quran that they would perform to their best.

During the tour of South Africa, Mr. Basit Ali saw the renowned bookie Mr. Haneef Cadbury going into the room of certain players. When Aaqib Javed protested to Intikhab Alam, Ijaz Ahmad said that he could not be asked not to see old friends. During the Final, an altercation took place between Salim Malik and Rashid Latif. Salim Malik had apparently decided to bat first in conditions which were favorable for fielding. Mr. Basit Ali stated that he himself had never indulged in match-fixing. Mr. Basit Ali also said that because of the circumstances created by Salim Malik and the management, he had to resign.

Haroon Rasheed: Haroon Rasheed, who is a former member of Pakistan cricket team and was appointed as Coach also appeared. Haroon Rasheed was of the opinion that some matches, including the One Day between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Colombo in Asia Cup 1997, were fixed.

Similarly, in the home One Day series against India at Karachi in 1997, Saqlain Mushtaq gave away 17 runs in the last over. This kind of bowling, according to Haroon Rasheed, was not expected from the caliber of Saqlain Mushtaq and Haroon Rasheed was of the opinion that this match was fixed too.

Haroon Rasheed was of the opinion that the test match played at Faisalabad against South Africa was also fixed when Pakistan were all out for 116 chasing a target of 144 runs in the second innings. Haroon Rasheed also accused Wasim Akram of changing the batting order during various competitions including Pakistan's Independence Golden Jubilee. Wasim Akram, according to Haroon Rasheed, would promote himself ahead of Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood, break the momentum of the game which would result in loss. Mr. Haroon Rasheed felt that the main culprits were Wasim Akram, Ijaz Ahmad and Salim Malik.

Salim Malik: Next to appear was the former Pakistani Captain Salim Malik. He said that he was exonerated by the inquiry conducted by Justice (Retd) Fakhr Uddin G. Ibrahim. As such, allegations against him including the one's leveled by the Australians were false and baseless. He admitted that an altercation had developed between him and Rashid Latif on the issue of who should bat first after winning the toss. He was of the view that the senior players wanted to bowl first, while Rashid Latif insisted that we must bat. He denied that he had fixed the final between National Bank and Habib Bank in domestic cricket. To a question why Shane Warne had accused him, he maintained that he was the only batsman in the world Shane Warne could not get out and as such was nursing a grudge. Regarding the statement made by Haroon Rashid against him for fixing the match of Sahara Cup against India, he maintained that he played with his best ability.

Continued....