Daily Times

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday issued a notice to tainted cricketer Nasir Jamshed, charging him with multiple violations of Articles 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4 and 2.4.4 of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code. Jamshed, believed to be the prime suspect in the infamous Pakistan Super League (PSL) spot-fixing case of 2017, is currently serving a one-year ban – that ends on February 13 – for obstruction of investigation and non-cooperation with the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit on the matter. The PCB has now moved to level the main charges against Jamshed, who has a period of fourteen days to respond to the notice.

All through the last year, the PCB firmly believed that Jamshed was more central to the plots to corrupt games during the PSL and it was made clear several times by the board that he would face further consequences. That, potentially, could be the case now, as Jamshed has been charged with fixing, accepting money to improperly influence games as well as inducing other players to indulge in corrupt activity. Jamshed was also arrested in the UK by the National Crime Agency in February last year in connection to this case, though he was quickly released on bail. That investigation is believed to be ongoing, though officials familiar with the case believe a decision is expected in a few weeks – Jamshed, these officials believe, is not the centre of the NCA’s investigation.

A PCB spokesman said Thursday in a statement that Jamshed had been issued a notice under which he had been charged with multiple violations of the code of conduct in respect of spot-fixing and corruption issues. Jamshed is accused of masterminding a spot-fixing scandal, which came to light during the first week of the 2017 PSL and has since seen Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif slapped with multiple-year bans. In his defence, Jamshed had previously claimed that the charges against him in the Pakistan Super League spot-fixing scandal are ‘flimsy and ridiculous.’ Jamshed has all along denied any wrongdoing and has, in fact, threatened to take the PCB to court for maligning his name. He is based in Birmingham and has been communicating with the PCB through his Lahore-based lawyer, and has appeared before the PCB tribunal via video link. The PCB remains resilient in its fight against corruption in cricket. Upon action initiated by the PCB, the Anti-Corruption Tribunal has already banned Sharjeel and Khalid. The convictions of both cricketers were subsequently upheld on appeal by an independent adjudicator,” the spokesman said.

Jamshed, who once scored three ODI hundreds on the trot against India, has denied setting up meetings between Sharjeel and Khalid during the PSL with a suspected bookmaker, Yousuf Anwar, in Dubai. Jamshed hasn’t played an international game for Pakistan since the 2015 World Cup and last featured in domestic cricket in December 2016.

Published in Daily Times, February 9^th 2018.