Pakistan batsman Nasir Jamshed and one other man have been arrested in UK with respect to the ongoing investigation in Pakistan Super League by anti-corruption officers.
In a statement the NCA have said that two men have been arrested by National Crime officers.
“Two men in their thirties have been arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with bribery offences as part of an ongoing investigation into international cricket match spot-fixing.
“The men were arrested on Monday 13 February and have been released on bail until April 2017 pending further enquiries.
“As part of the ongoing investigation, we are working closely with the Pakistan Cricket Board and International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption units. The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched its own investigation which has resulted in the suspension of three players.”
Jamshed was earlier suspended from PSL after he was allegedly found involved in the spot-fixing scandal.
“We had a lot of evidence on which we based our decision,” Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, said on his talk show on Geo TV, before the announcement of the arrests.
“We know what we are doing. We have all evidence. We had this for a while, we had information – we cannot talk about stuff right now but a charge sheet will be given to players soon.
“We had definite information, and not just us, we were collecting it. We knew it was happening, we had identified a few players and then at final stages we knew the ICC had some information as well and when we compared it the information was the same, then we decided to act on this.”
Sethi said the PCB investigation into alleged corruption had begun before the PSL’s second season began.
“You will know in 3-4 days what the plans were, what they were going to do, we have these players’ phones in which there is more information. Who they were in touch with, what they talked about, their text messages, WhatsApp messages.
“We had an idea this was happening. We had also infiltrated into Pakistani bookies and we had some information from there as well before we got here. The league was huge last year and we knew it would attract bookies. We were waiting for it and we knew some players outside the PSL would be involved in it.
“We suspended Nasir Jamshed as well, about whom we know what role he played. We nipped it in the bud.”
Apart from Jamshed, Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan were the other two players who were shown exit gates from the PSL and were sent back to Pakistan by the board.
The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the news in a statement. “Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif have been suspended and the rigorous and wide-ranging investigation by the PCB supported by the ICC will continue as part of collective efforts to protect the integrity of the sport.”
“Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif have been suspended and the rigorous and wide-ranging investigation by the PCB supported by the ICC will continue as part of collective efforts to protect the integrity of the sport.”
PCB would now have a task in hand to issue a show cause notice to the suspended players.
