Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Tuesday (April 28) lambasted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not taking strict action against players who indulged in spot or match-fixing in the past. He also vented out his anger as the country hasn’t yet brought in legislation to criminalise match-fixing.
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Akhtar’s comments came a day after PCB banned Umar Akmal from all cricket for three years for not reporting a fixing offer before the start of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
"Why cannot you make match-fixing a criminal offence in Pakistan? You can give a jail term or seize the offenders' property, it will put fear in people, the PCB and their legal team are being incompetent, why there is no legislation to criminalise match-fixing," Akhtar said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
"Now there are people who are asking PCB to bring in legislation to criminalise match-fixing. I want to ask those people what did you do when you held positions in the PCB. There is an urgent of bringing such a law and this can only be done in the national assembly," he added.
In the last 10 years, Pakistan has witnessed a spike in fixing cases. The likes of Danish Kaneria, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir, Sharjeel Khan, and Nasir Jamshed have been caught in either match-fixing or spot-fixing.
While Amir made his return to cricket in 2016 despite a prolonged ban for proven involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, Sharjeel Khan – who was found guilty in the 2017 PSL spot-fixing controversy – allowed to play for Karachi Kings this year, with talks of his national comeback only increasing with time.
Akhtar also lashed out at PCB for not setting the right examples before slamming Amir for turning his back on Pakistan cricket by retiring from the longest format at the age of 27.
"Why did you bring back Mohammad Amir? Why there are different guidelines for different players? You tried to make Amir a star, you bypassed all guidelines, and what did Amir do? He said I won't play Test cricket, there you go," the Rawalpindi Express remarked.
Apart from Shoaib Akhtar, former captains such as Ramiz Raja, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi have also strongly spoken out against giving a second chance to guilty players.
