KARACHI: Cricketers involved in match-fixing should be hanged, former Pakistan batting great Javed Miandad suggested Friday.
Match-fixing and spot-fixing — determining the outcome of a specific part of a game rather than the overall result — have stained the country’s sport for several years.
“Players who are involved in spot-fixing should be severely punished,” Miandad, who scored Pakistan’s second-highest Test runs with 8832, said on his YouTube channel.
“Spot-fixers should be hanged because it is similar to killing someone, and so the punishment should also be on the same lines. An example should be set so that no player even thinks about doing something like this.”
His remarks follow player Mohammad Hafeez’s protests over former opener Sharjeel Khan’s return despite receiving a five-year ban in 2017 over a spot-fixing case.
Meanwhile, Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal faces a ban of six months to life after being charged for not reporting a fixing offer last month, a crime under Pakistan Cricket Board’s anti-corruption code.
Fixing was exposed in 1995 after Australians Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged then-skipper Salim Malik offered them bribes to under-perform in matches.
That led to a judicial inquiry that banned Malik for life.
But in 2010, then Pakistan skipper Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were involved in a spot-fixing case that led to five-year bans.
Only Amir returned to international cricket — a comeback that also raised opposition, most prominently by Hafeez.
Ex-Pakistan cricket great Miandad says spot-fixers should be hanged
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Ex-Pakistan cricket great Miandad says spot-fixers should be hanged
- 'An example should be set,' Miandad said on his YouTube channel on Friday
- Cheating in cricket via match and spot-fixing has stained the country’s favorite sport for years
Pakistan plans Benghazi consulate, lending legitimacy to Libya’s eastern authorities
- Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern, western authorities
- The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while the Libyan National Army forces based in Benghazi hold the east and the south
KARACHI: Pakistan is in talks to open a consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could give a diplomatic boost to eastern authorities in their rivalry with Libya’s west.
Libya descended into turmoil after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Qaddafi and has been divided into eastern and western authorities since a 2014 civil war. The UN-recognized government in Tripoli controls the west, while
Libyan National Army leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces based in Benghazi hold the east and south, including major oilfields.
Islamabad would be joining a small group of countries with a diplomatic presence in Benghazi. Haftar discussed the move with officials during an ongoing visit to Pakistan, the sources said.
Haftar met Pakistan’s army chief on Monday to discuss “professional cooperation,” the Pakistani military said. He was due to sit down with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, the sources said, declining to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The LNA’s official media page said Haftar and his son Saddam met senior Pakistani army officials “within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and opening up broader horizons for coordination in areas of common interest.” It did not give further details and Reuters could not immediately reach eastern Libyan authorities for comment.
Pakistan’s air force said in a statement that Saddam Khalifa Haftar met Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu to discuss expanding defense cooperation, including joint training, with Islamabad reaffirming its support for the “capability development” of the Libyan air force. Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Benghazi in December, where he signed a multibillion-dollar defense deal with the LNA, previously reported by Reuters.
All three sources said the decision to open a consulate in Benghazi was linked to the $4 billion defense deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever arms sales.
Libya has been under a UN arms embargo since 2011, although UN experts have said it is ineffective. Pakistani officials involved in the December deal said it did not violate UN restrictions. Haftar has historically been an ally of the UAE, which supported him with air power and viewed him as a bulwark against extremists, while Pakistan — the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation — signed a wide-ranging mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia late last year.
