Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed has alleged that India is the den of match-fixing mafia in cricket and expressed surprise that an established force in the game is unable to do anything about it.
Javed, who was part of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning squad, also claimed that questions have been raised about match-fixing in the Indian Premier League but authorities haven’t been able to get hold of the mafia.
“I’m surprised that a country such as India which is so established in cricket, is the main link for match-fixing,” Javed was quoted as saying by Pakistan-based news channel Geo News.
“Questions have been raised over IPL in the past as well and the den of this match-fixing mafia is India. There is no way out once you decide to get yourself into it [fixing]. Nobody has the courage to take any sort of action against the mafia yet,” he added.
Javed had earlier accused Wasim Akram of keeping him out of Pakistan’s cricket team due to declining offers to fix matches. He also said that he received death threats if he spoke on the issue when there were allegations against former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik, he told another news channel, as quoted by Dawn.
“My career ended prematurely because I spoke against fixing. I was being threatened that I would be ripped to pieces,” he said.
The former UAE head coach Javed, who is currently coaching Pakistan Super League franchise Lahore Qalandars’ claimed that he never got the opportunity to become head coach of the Pakistan cricket team as he spoke against match-fixing on many occasions.
“If you are vocal against fixing then you can only go to a certain extent in your career. This is why I was not able to become the head coach (of Pakistan).”
The right-arm pacer featured in 22 Tests and 163 One-Day Internationals for Pakistan, claiming 54 and 182 wickets respectively.
