Kolkata: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Shahryar Khan says the two players accused of involvement in spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif will face maximum punishments if found guilty. Another cricketer, fast bowler Muhammad Irfan isn’t facing any suspension as of now after being questioned, but the inquiry process will continues.
Khan on Wednesday called off a round-table conference with former Pakistani cricketers and experts, which was to be held in Lahore in March to address the increasing misery pilled up on the national team, to instead deal with the match-fixing scandal which has yet again come back to haunt Pakistan cricket. The professed violators, Sharjeel and Khalid arrived in Lahore on Wednesday and were scheduled to appear before the PCB’s head of anti-corruption unit, Col. Mohammad Azam.
Khan says that the two players accused of match fixing, will be given one to two weeks time to present their statements, after which the board will bring upon formal charges. “We are listening to Sharjeel and Latif’s perspectives as well. It is necessary to listen to their side of the story. After that we will decide what action to take against them, but I can assure you that they will be subjected to the harshest of punishments (if found guilty),” says the PCB chief.
Responding to a question over the staging of the PSL final in Lahore Khan says the board is confident of holding the PSL final at the Gaddafi Stadium in March. “We have told the government we are organising the final in Lahore,” says Khan. He also says that a monitoring team comprising foreigners will visit Lahore in the next few days to review the security situation. “We will not bow down to terrorism,” the chairman adds.
(With inputs from The Express Tribune and Dawn)
