PSL Betting Scandal: Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif Record Their Statements Before Anti-Corruption Unit
Feb 18, 2017 at 3:30 PM
Pakistan internationals Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif, who were sent back home from the ongoing Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) second edition in Dubai on charges of spot-fixing, have recorded their statements before the Pakistan Cricket Board’s anti-corruption unit (ACU).
According to reports in The Dawn, Sharjeel formally recorded his statement before the ACU at the scheduled time while his fellow suspect Khalid Latif could not record his statement on time due to an illness. The 31-year-old was scheduled to record his official statement on the scam Friday morning but recorded it late in the evening at the PCB headquarters.
Meanwhile, PCB media director Amjad Hussain Bhatti has said both prime suspects of betting scandal would be given the chargesheet soon after they complete the process of recording their formal statement.
The duo was sent home just a day after the league started on February 9. The PCB, in their statement, had claimed that while the investigation against three other cricketers- Mohammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar and Shahzaib Hasan — was ongoing, Sharjeel and Khalid were sent home and were provisionally suspended after they had confessed to wrongdoing. Later, the PCB had said they would be taking the matter very seriously. But so far, no harsh step has been taken by them. In fact, they are yet to hand over the formal chargesheets to the duo.
But Amjad Hussain Bhatti, while clarifying the PCB’s stance, said the anti-corruption unit was working under a specific procedure, which would not give the accused players any opportunity to file an appeal before any court.
“The PCB will not leave any lacuna in the case which may help the cricketers to go to any court,” he said.
He further quashed the speculations that the players would be given any relaxation in punishment if they confessed to their crime by saying:
“The PCB would not show any leniency towards guilty cricketers at any cost.”