Pakistan pledges zero tolerance on corruption
Shahid Hashmi
- Pakistani cricket used international anti-corruption day Thursday
to pledge zero tolerance on graft and bounce back from a series of
damaging scandals that have hammered the team.
Cricket, almost the only entertainment that unites Pakistanis across
the social divide, from Karachi in the south to the lawless tribal belt
on the Afghan border, is fast shedding popularity because of corruption.
Three Pakistani players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad
Aamer - were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on
charges of spot-fixing during team's Lord's Test against England in
August.
The trio appear before an ICC anti-corruption tribunal in Qatar from
January 6-11 and face severe punishment, including lengthy bans.
Four other players - Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran
Farhat - are under suspicion of spot-fixing, while Shoaib Malik and
Danish Kaneria have not been cleared for selection, apparently over
wrongdoings in the past.
Pakistan's surprise defeat against Australia in January's Sydney Test
also formed the basis of an ICC inquiry, resulting in a notice to Kamran.
The slew of allegations forced the ICC to chastise Pakistan, ordering
them to take strict measures to curb corruption, or risk sanction.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said Thursday
that the authorities were committed to rooting out graft.
"PCB has taken strict measures in its fight against corruption with a
stricter code of conduct, increased stress on its programmes of player
awareness and implementation of the anti-corruption code in domestic
cricket - efforts which have been appreciated by the ICC," said Sarwar.
"We are committed to maintain our zero tolerance policy towards
corruption."
Former Supreme court judge Fakhruddin Ibrahim blamed money for
corrupting Pakistani sportsmen, many of whom come from impoverished
backgrounds.
"Corruption is not only confined to Pakistan, but it is more obvious
here than anywhere else in the world," Ibrahim told AFP. |