ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board said Thursday fast bowler Wahab Riaz will appear before Scotland Yard police next week in relation to match-fixing allegations.
Ijaz Butt said the left-arm paceman will be interrogated by police on Tuesday.
“They want to question Wahab Riaz and we have set the date for it,” Butt told reporters in Lahore.
Riaz will be the fourth Pakistani player to be questioned by police. Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir had earlier been questioned by Scotland Yard for nine hours before they were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council last week.
A British tabloid last month accused Salman Butt, Asif and Amir of accepting money in return for bowling deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s test against England.
Butt said that police were yet to share any “incriminating material with the PCB” regarding their investigation against the Pakistan players.
“They have not charged any of our players and I would like the suspended players to travel back to Pakistan within the next few days,” Butt said.
Scotland Yard and the ICC’s anti-corruption unit are carrying out parallel investigations into the allegations of match-fixing against the Pakistani cricketers.
However, Butt claimed that Scotland Yard had told the ICC to wait until the police investigation was completed before beginning its own inquiry.
“Scotland Yard had written to the ICC to say that there can’t be a parallel investigation and you should not do this,” Butt said.
The PCB chairman admitted that during the police search of players’ rooms in the aftermath of the newspaper allegations, 2,500 pounds sterling ($3,850) were found in Salman Butt’s room and 1,500 pounds ($2,300) in Amir’s room.
But he said Salman Butt was paid the money by his agent as an advance for making an appearance at the opening of an ice cream parlour in England.
“The deal was of 5,000 pounds and Salman got half of the amount as an advance,” Butt said.
Similarly Butt said that Amir had already declared that he had 1,500 pounds in his possession. Butt did not elaborate on the details of money which was found from Amir’s room. —AP
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