Evidence compelling enough in spot-fixing scam: tabloid editor

Tue, Aug 31 10 10:18 PM

Rezaul H Laskar Islamabad, Aug 31 (PTI) The sports editor of the British tabloid that uncovered a major spot-fixing scam in cricket today said there was "no other agenda" in targeting Pakistani cricketers and the evidence gathered was compelling enough to arrest the alleged fixer and quiz three players. Paul McCarthy, sports editor of the News of the World, said there was no hidden agenda behind his publication''s decision to target the Pakistani players in its sting operation. After the tabloid alerted British police about its findings on Friday evening, police officers came to its office the following day and reviewed transcripts and video footage gathered during the investigation. "They found the evidence compelling and they were here for several hours. They felt there was a case to answer. The evidence we provided was the foundation of that," McCarthy told Geo News channel in an interview. Asked why the tabloid had not targeted Indian betting cartels and players allegedly involved in match-fixing, McCarthy said the evidence gathered by his newspaper only "pointed to corruption within the Pakistan team". "There is no other agenda whatsoever other than the fact that the story this time centred around the Pakistan team and the three players involved Asif, Amir and Salman Butt whom the police have interviewed," he said. He denied that News of the World had worked with British police to uncover the scam. The tabloid alerted the police once it "realised that there was a situation where we could not be seen to be helping to impugn the integrity of a cricket match," he said. The evidence provided by the tabloid led to the arrest of alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed on Saturday afternoon and the interview of certain cricketers after they left the field at Lord''s the same day, he said. The tabloid had given the police "video evidence of Majeed telling reporter exactly when three no-balls would be bowled" and transcripts of the whole investigation, McCarthy said. In the footage, Majeed identified "the bowlers, the over and exactly which ball would be a no-ball," he added. McCarthy said his publication had worked for "several months" on the sting operation. "Our suspicions were aroused as far back as the beginning of the year. The Test match that Pakistan played against Australia where there was an ICC investigation. "From then on, it was obviously easier once Pakistan came to England to play two Test matches against Australia and four against England," he said. .

Source: Published>