Lahore: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned his country's cricket team against indulging in any kind of match-fixing ahead of the India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal showdown in Mohali on Mar 30, according to media reports.
Rehman Malik repotedly told Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi that if there is any such allegation, the matter would be strongly dealt with.
The Pakistan team was earlier tainted by one of the biggest fixing allegations that saw three of its key players facing ICC ban.
The Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy exploded after the News of the World in the UK released videos of the Pakistani cricket team's tour of England when players Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt had allegedly accepted bribes from bookmaker Mazhar Majeed to purposely under-perform at certain points at a Test match at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
News of the World in a sting operation video-taped Mazhar Majeed accepting money and informed the reporters that fast bowlers Asif and Amir would deliberately bowl no-balls at specific points in an over — information which could be used by gamblers to make wagers with inside information.
The process is known as spot-fixing, compared with match fixing which predetermines a match result.
The three players were suspended from all forms of cricket for terms of five to ten years.