Attaur Rehman’s match-fixing statement about Waseem Akram was true: PCB former chief

LAHORE (92 News) – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) former chairman Khalid Mahmood said that Attaur Rehman’s match-fixing statement about Waseem Akram was true. Talking to 92 News on Thursday, the PCB former chief said: “Attaur Rehman confessed that Wasim Akram had offered him Rs300,000 for match-fixing. He submitted an affidavit to court, but later backtracked from it.” Khalid Mahmood said that Wasim Akram would have been banned had Attaur Rehman spoken the truth. “I had asked Attaur Rehman not to be afraid and the PCB will support him.” He said that the three matches of the 1999 World Cup were doubtful. “There was something fishy behind the defeats of Bangladesh, India and Australia in the final. Pakistan could not lose the match against Bangladesh, but it lost,” he maintained. The former PCB chairman said that Pakistan had not played a fair match against India in the 1999 World Cup. “Pakistan did not play a fair game against Australia in the World Cup final,” he added. Former skipper Saleem Malik, who was punished in the match-fixing scandal, had sought an apology from the nation and demanded re-investigation of the matter. Cricket commentator Mirza Iqbal said that the statement of Khalid Mahmood and Saleem Malik tantamount to dredging up the matter. A couple of days ago, the PCB Disciplinary Panel had banned Umar Akmal for three years in a match-fixing scandal.