PAF and NBP emerged as the top two teams in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Challenge Cup 2013 Group D matches yesterday.

PAF thrashed hosts Bahawalpur 8-0 while NBP recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory against HEC at the Dring Stadium.

PAF began their second match of the tournament with confidence as Irfan Ali scored the opening goal in the 20th minute and doubled the lead after a minute. His fellow striker Arif Nawaz scored in the 36th as PAF led 3-0 at the interval.

PAF continued to dominate in the second-half as Ali’s third goal of the match came in the 48th minute. He went on to score his hat-trick in the 58th minute.

Meanwhile, Nawaz scored his second goal in the 78th minute and captain Muhammad Mujahid along with striker Rafiullah scored a goal apiece.

PAF’s match against Bahawalpur was originally scheduled to take place in the evening at the Swimming Pool Football Ground but due to the deteriorating pitch, the matches were shifted to the morning session.

According to the match commissioner Rauf Bari, the organisers shifted all the matches that were scheduled to take place at the Swimming Pool Football Ground to the Dring Stadium.

“We changed the venue because the pitch at the Swimming Pool Football Ground was deteriorating,” Bari told The Express Tribune. “We have now scheduled the matches in the morning. The temperature here was 25 degree centigrade in the morning compared to evening temperate which was 39 degrees.

All the teams are happy about our decision.”

In the other match, NBP beat HEC 2-0. NBP striker Faisal Iqbal scored the opening goal of the match in the 30th minute as Farooq Shah sealed the victory with his late goal in the 84th.

Elsewhere, Wapda defeated Pakistan Police 1-0 and KESC outplayed SSGC 2-1 in the late night Group B matches.

In today’s fixtures, Army will face PIA in their last Group C match while KESC will conclude the first round of matches when they take on Wapda.

Published in The Express Tribune,

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen endured a torrid time at Monaco GP in 2012 and is determined to bounce back on the challenging track next weekend.

The Finn lost practice time after changing the steering setup and struggled to get up to speed in last year’s race. Currently second in the championship, he hopes to have a better race this time around than he enjoyed last year.

“We’re not in first place, so we can’t be too happy,” he said of his season so far. “For sure it’s not a nightmare, but we’ve still got a lot of races yet to come, and anything can happen in Formula One. Monaco’s a different challenge, so we’ll have to see what happens there this year.

“We certainly won’t make the mistakes we made last time. There were a few things we didn’t do right and we suffered because of that. Sometimes that’s the way it goes, but the important thing is not to make the same mistakes again.

Raikkonen reiterated that qualifying will be the key, according to Autoweek.com.

“We have to focus on qualifying. We’ll have to see how the tires perform and if there are any good strategies to be made, but the most important thing is to qualify well.

“We can say our car has been fast everywhere else, so let’s hope it’s also fast there. We’ll do the best we can.”

‘McLaren can make small step forward in Monaco’

Meanwhile, Jenson Button is ‘confident’ McLaren can make another ‘small step forward’ in Monaco.

Despite introducing a number of new updates in Spain last weekend, the Woking-based outfit still struggled.

“Everyone at McLaren has been working flat-out since the Spanish Grand Prix,” he said. “We’re not yet where we want to be in terms of competitiveness, but I’m confident that we can make another small step forward in Monaco.

“We’ll continue to chip away at the performance of the MP4-28 until it’s capable of challenging at the front; there’s no other agenda for a winning team like McLaren. The aim for Monaco is to get both cars home in the points, as we did in Barcelona.”

Published in The Express Tribune,

Fulham on Wednesday confirmed that an international tournament between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh due to be held at their Craven Cottage stadium in June has been cancelled.

It was announced a week ago that India were due to play Bangladesh on June 1 and Pakistan on June 4, while Pakistan would take on Bangladesh on June 8 in the ‘Neighbours Series’ event in West London.

But the friendly tournament, promoted by the Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group, will no longer go ahead as planned.

“The Club would like to inform supporters that the international friendly matches scheduled to be played at Craven Cottage in June between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been cancelled,” a statement on Fulham’s website confirmed.

“Full refunds for tickets already purchased will be given.”

The late cancellation leaves the south Asian countries looking to schedule new friendlies in June in preparation for the South Asian Football Federation Championship in September.

KARACHI: Pakistan kick off their UK tour with a challenge from Scotland in the first of a two-match One-Day International series against the minnows in Edinburgh today.

It may be a low-profile series, but it gives the Pakistan team a chance to warm-up ahead of the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy that follows the two ODI series — against Scotland and Ireland.

Pakistan have won both their previous two encounters against Scotland, beating them during the 1999 World Cup by 94 runs and overcoming them by five wickets in a one-off ODI in 2006.

Captain Misbahul Haq described the series as important as it will help his team acclimatise with weather and playing conditions before the Champions Trophy starts on June 6.

A team official said Pakistan will not take the series lightly despite being favourites.

“The ODI and T20 formats are unpredictable,” said the official.

“There is a long history of upsets in these formats and we do not want that to happen. We want to head for the Champions Trophy after being victorious.”

The team management will also get a chance to test various batting combinations during the series.

Pakistan have three specialist openers – Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat – in the squad while Kamran Akmal can also be a potential make-shift opener.

“We’re clear as far as the batting order is concerned. But these matches will provide an opportunity to test combinations if need be.”

On the other hand, Scotland will be led by new captain Kyle Coetzer who will be hoping to stun the big guns of cricket.

Pakistan squad: Misbahul Haq (c), Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil and Wahab Riaz.

Published in The Express Tribune,

Pakistan Army swept the Korean Ambassador National Taekwondo Championship with a dominating performance that included 21 gold medals in just 25 events.

The four-day championship ended on Friday at the Liaquat Gymnasium in Islamabad, with the final rounds of the men’s competitions in the light, welter, middle and heavyweight categories.

In addition to the 21 gold medals, Pakistan Army also won three silver and two bronze medals to secure overall first position among the competing departments, provinces and regions.

Wapda took second place with one gold and six silver medals, while the Higher Education Commission (HEC) stood third with one gold and three silver medals.

The ninth annual championship was organised by the Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) in collaboration with the South Korean Embassy in Pakistan. The championship also marked the 30th anniversary of Pakistan-Korean diplomatic relations. A team of 20 taekwondo professionals from South Korea flew in and gave a taekwondo demonstration at the start of the championship on May 14.

The martial art taekwondo is an Olympic sport which originated in South Korea.

Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) General Secretary Lt Col Waseem Ahmed said the performance by the South Korean professionals was a great learning experience for the Pakistani taekwondo students.

The championship also marked a first in taekwondo technology for Pakistan.

Ahmed said it was the first time that an electronic sensor system was used in the contest. The system, which is made up of electronic belts to be worn around the waist and electronic socks, reduces the chance of human error by referees by automatically updating the scoreboard when contact is detected. The technology was also during the 2012 London Olympics, Ahmed said.

Sajjad Hussain of Pakistan Army, who won the gold medal in the heavyweight category on Friday, said he had trained around the year for the competition. Hussain appreciated the use of the electronic system and said it had enhanced fair play in the sport. Chief Guest Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hassan, president of the Pakistan Olympic Association, and Guest of Honour Mansoor Sohail, a Federal Public Service Commission member, distributed trophies and medals among the winners.

Published in The Express Tribune, View the original article here

LONDON: David Beckham is to retire from professional football at the end of the season, his representative announced yesterday.

The 38-year-old midfielder has played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan, as well as winning 115 caps for England, and recently won the French Ligue 1 championship with Paris Saint-Germain.

“I’m thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level,” he said, in comments reported by the BBC.

“If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club, Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times, and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy.

“I’m fortunate to have realised those dreams.”

Beckham’s title triumph with PSG made him the first British player to have won league championships in four different countries, after previous successes in England, Spain and the US.

He won six league titles, two FA Cups and the 1999 Champions League with United, before joining Madrid in 2003, where he won the Spanish league title four years later.

Beckham moved to Los Angeles in 2007, winning two MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy, but spent two loan spells at Milan and then returned to Europe in January this year, when he signed a short-term deal with PSG.

He captained England between 2000 and 2006, played at three World Cups, and has played more times for his country than any other outfield player.

Published in The Express Tribune

The AFC has allotted to Pakistan the Group E competitions involving Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sri Lanka.

If the venue was finalised it would be after eight long years that Karachi would be hosting any international football competition. In 2005 the port city hosted the SAFF Cup at the People’s Sports Complex.

A two-member delegation of the Sindh Football Association (SFA) on Friday met with Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui and requested him for providing the complex for the purpose.

Shoaib, a former Sindh secretary Sports, assured the delegation that the venue would be provided for the purpose. ‘The News’ learnt that the commissioner told the SFA representatives that he would discuss the matter with the quarters concerned and invite them for another meeting. He hoped that the qualifiers would be conducted in the port city in a befitting manner. People’s Sports Complex has all the facilities required for holding international slots. But the officials concerned will have to prepare a good pitch at the venue.

Currently, the grass is not in a good condition but with a little effort it could be converted into a fine track.

SFA representative Shakoor Baloch is also likely to meet Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Sports Manager Shah Naeem Zafar to discuss with him the availability of the KPT Stadium.

KPT Stadium has a soft, grassy pitch but it lacks some other facilities which are needed for international matches.

A source in the SFA told this correspondent that the KPT Stadium would also be prepared for the purpose. The inspection team of the AFC will visit both the venues before the slots and the venue which impresses them will host the competitions.

Sources said that the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) wants to host the competitions in Karachi as the port city has not been able to host any continental event so far.

Lahore and Islamabad have hosted several continental events, including the AFC President’s Cup.

As many as 43 nations are taking part in the encounters which have been placed in ten groups.

The group winners and the best five runners-up will join hosts Thailand in the finals next year.

The AFC Under-16 Championship started back in 1985 and the finals in Bangkok will be the 16th edition. Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Jordan, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan will host the matches of the West Zone.

The sides finishing at the top four positions in the Asian level final round will qualify to represent the continent in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in Chile in 2015.

Group A: Kuwait, India, Tajikistan, Lebanon, Bhutan

Group B: Uzbekistan, Yemen, Palestine, Maldives

Group C: Iraq, Bahrain, Nepal, Turkmenistan

Group D: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Jordan

Group E: Iran, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Group F: Oman, Qatar, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan

Group G: Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Macau

Group H: South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Guam, Brunei

Group I: China, North Korea, Myanmar, Northern Mariana Islands Group J: Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has said that his team cannot afford to lose focus on improving their race performance for the Monaco GP, according to Sky Sports.

Hamilton, a winner in Monaco in 2008, admits he is looking forward to the race in France next weekend but insisted that, while grid position was key, the Brackley outfit could not afford to neglect their race performance.

“While there hasn’t been a lot of time since Barcelona, we’ve been working hard to put the disappointment of the last race behind us and focus on the opportunities ahead,” said Hamilton. “Monaco is one of my favourite races of the year and I love driving there. Perhaps more than at many other tracks, qualifying and getting the best possible track position is crucial in Monaco, but we have to keep our focus on next Sunday as well and keep working to improve our race pace.

“Everyone is working really hard and I know we can get there. We just need to be motivated and work it out together.”

Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff has also echoed Hamilton’s sentiments.

“The narrow streets will give our drivers the perfect opportunity to display their talents and, historically, the team’s cars have performed strongly there in terms of pure speed,” said Wolff.

“However, it is clear to everybody in the team that, while we have a strong car right now, we are not able to use that performance properly on Sunday afternoon.

“Although overtaking in Monaco is difficult, we cannot afford to be complacent in terms of tyre management and we will need to do significantly better than we managed in Barcelona in order to score a strong result.”

Lotus irked by tyre changes

Lotus boss Eric Boullier says Pirelli’s decision to make changes to the tyres mid-season is like ‘changing the dimensions of a football pitch at half-time’.

“There aren’t many sports where there are such fundamental changes to an essential ingredient part-way through a season,” he said.

“Just imagine for a moment that, because a football team can’t run as fast as its opponent, the dimensions of the pitch are changed at half time! That there are changes to come can be seen as somewhat frustrating, and I hope they are not too extreme.”

Published in The Express Tribune,

Former Test cricketer Rashid Latif challenged the appointment of PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf submitting the appointment was made without any electoral process and was in complete contravention of Article 4 and 8 of the Constitution.

He submitted that the PCB in its meeting of governing board on May 8 had in an illegal manner and in violation of Article 9 (2) of the PCB Constitution appointed Zaka Ashraf as Chairman of the Board without the representation of all provinces on the board of governors.

He said that such stance of the PCB was contradictory and self defeating in as much the PCB had failed to abide by their own Constitution.

The petitioner submitted that the procedure for the appointment of the chairman was not transparent as it gave the patron the power to nominate the chairman at his behest via a nomination committee which was nothing more than a toothless body dependent on the order of the patron.

He said the procedure allowed the patron to create a deadlock as he had two representatives on the nomination committee along with the two representatives of the BOG.

He also questioned the appointment criteria of Chairman PCB and prayed the court to declare part IV of the Constitution regarding appointment of nomination committee and appointment of Chairman unconstitutional and without any legal effect.

He also prayed the court to declare the appointment of Zaka Ashraf as PCB Chairman unconstitutional.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, issued notices to secretary ministry of inter-provincial coordination, PCB and Chairman PCB for May 29 and called their comments.

Djokovic dispatched Dolgopolov in an hour, with five aces and 13 winners in a contest which began 45 minutes late due to morning rain.

The two-time Rome champion will play Czech Tomas Berdych, a winner over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, in the last eight.

Djokovic said that he had almost forgotten about his ankle injury since winning the title in Monte Carlo over Rafael Nadal last month while carrying the problem.

“I’ve been pain-free for a week but I’m still very cautious in my warm-up and recovery. I want to do the best for it as possible. I don’t think it will bother me any more and I don’t think about it when I’m on the court.”

That was not the case for Murray, though.

The Scot is on the verge of withdrawing from the French Open starting a week from Sunday after quitting his opening match in Rome with the chronic back pain which has bothered him for almost 18 months.

Djokovic, a few seasons ago known as injury-prone, is now an iron man who stands atop the world rankings. His most recent niggle, the ankle problem from early April, is now a thing of the past, according to the 25-year-old Serb.

Djokovic said that he is sorry to hear of the plight of Murray.

“That is not the kind of news you want on your birthday,” he said of Murray, one week his elder, who turned 26 on Wednesday.

“It would be a pity if he doesn’t play. He’s one of the top players, it is a loss for any tournament for him to be missing. I don’t know the level of his injury, he is the best one to know how he feels.

“But perhaps he will have time to recover, we will know more in the next few days. There is the most value in the Grand Slams, that’s where you want to make your mark and play your best.”

In the women’s draw, unseeded two-time Foro Italico champion Jelena Jankovic upset 2011 Roland Garros winner Li Na, the Chinese fifth seed, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.

Italian seventh seed Sara Errani, runner-up in Paris a year ago to Maria Sharapova, advanced to the quarter-finals as Russian Maria Kirilenko quit trailing 6-3, 2-0 with a knee injury.

Purdy will face International Boxing Federational welterweight champion Devon Alexander while IBF light-welterweight champion Lamont Peterson meets Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse in the top tests at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

“I’m coming to bring the upset,” Purdy said. “I’m a big underdog. I’m here to fight. I’m in great shape and I’m ready to put a big statement out there. I believe I can cause him some problems.”

Southpaw Alexander, 24-1 with 13 knockouts, makes the first defense of the crown he took from US compatriot Randall Bailey last October. He has won three decisions since suffering his only loss, to Tim Bradley in January of 2011.

Alexander was to have fought England’s unbeaten Kell Brook, 29-0 with 19 knockouts, but a foot injury forced Brook to withdraw from a fight delayed by a Brook ankle injury in December and a February biceps injury to Alexander.

“Finally is the key word here,” Alexander said.

Purdy, 20-3 with one draw and 13 knockouts, has won five fights in a row and has plenty to prove as a late-notice fill-in.

“I didn’t come all this way to America to let the fans down,” Purdy said. “I’ll find a way to win. I’m going to put my heart and soul into this fight and come out victorious. I’m going to show the world what I’m all about.”

Khan has a major interest in the Peterson-Matthysse fight. That winner is expected to fight unbeaten World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia later this year, with Khan likely to face the winner of that bout.

“Winning on Saturday and doing it in big fashion is going to open doors, so it’s very important, probably the most important fight of my career,” Matthysse said. “We want to fight the big names. I’d love to fight Danny Garcia.”

No title is at stake in Peterson-Matthysse even though both fighters are champions, the South American owning an interim WBC throne, because the bout is at a catchweight of 141 pounds, just over the light-welterweight limit.

Matthysse, 33-2 with 31 knockouts, has not gone the distance in five wins since losing a split decision to Alexander two years ago and has a reputation as a punishing puncher.

“My punch gives me a lot of confidence,” Matthysse said. “I’m very calm in the fights because I know what the opponents are thinking — in order to land one punch they might get caught with one of my punches.”

Peterson does not plan on letting the South American land one of his trademark knockout blows.

“I won’t worry about defense too much,” Peterson said. “I’ll just worry about not getting hit clean.”

Peterson, 31-1-1 with 16 knockouts, won a controversial split decision over Khan in 2011 but a rematch was scuttled when Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

The WBA stripped Peterson of the title but the IBF did not after hearing an appeal and Peterson returned to the ring last February, beating Kendall Holt to retain the IBF crown.

Undercard fighters also include British Olympic bronze medal boxer Anthony Ogogo, a middleweight, and Khan’s brother, bantamweight Haroon Khan.

“What worries me is that this apparently is just the tip of the iceberg as fas as corruption in cricket is concerned. There have always been fears that the IPL was a soft target for bookmakers but no one took this seriously,” he said.

He said the involvement of players in spot-fixing had badly tainted the image of the sport. “It doesn’t matter which country you belong to but if you are corrupt you are causing irreparable damage to cricket.”

Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch doubles partner Jean-Julien Rojer were sent packing from the Rome Masters, after the pair went down to Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 yesterday.

Aisam and Rojer, who got a bye in the first round, put up a fight against the Czech pair before losing in over an hour and 20 minutes.

Aisam, ranked fourth in the individual doubles ranking, and Rojer, placed sixth, crashed out of the second round at the Madrid Masters last week.

Djokovic into quarters

In the men’s singles draw, top-seed Novak Djokovic played without ankle pain in a routine 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Alexandr Dolgopolov for a quarter-final place at the Rome Masters, and then spared a thought for the injury plight of rival Andy Murray.

Djokovic dispatched Dolgopolov in an hour, with five aces and 13 winners in a contest which began 45 minutes late due to morning rain.

The two-time Rome champion will play Czech Berdych, a winner over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, in the last-eight.

Djokovic said that he had almost forgotten about his ankle injury since winning the title in Monte Carlo over Rafael Nadal last month while carrying the problem.

“I’ve been pain-free for a week but I’m still very cautious in my warm-up and recovery. I want to do the best for it as possible. I don’t think it will bother me any more and I don’t think about it when I’m on the court.”

That was not the case for Murray, though.

The Scot is on the verge of withdrawing from the French Open starting a week from Sunday after quitting his opening match in Rome with the chronic back pain which has bothered him for almost 18 months.

Djokovic, a few seasons ago known as injury-prone, is now an iron man who stands atop the world rankings. His most recent niggle, the ankle problem from early April, is now a thing of the past, according to the 25-year-old Serb.

Djokovic said that he is sorry to hear of the plight of Murray.

“That is not the kind of news you want on your birthday,” he said of Murray, one week his elder, who turned 26 on Wednesday. “It would be a pity if he doesn’t play.

“He’s one of the top players, it is a loss for any tournament for him to be missing. I don’t know the level of his injury, he is the best one to know how he feels.

In the women’s draw, world number one Serena Williams comfortably made the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-1 mauling of Slovakia’s 14th-seed Dominika Cibulkova.

Williams will face Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro. Unseeded two-time Foro Italico champion Jelena Jankovic upset 2011 Roland Garros winner Li Na, the Chinese fifth seed, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.

Published in The Express Tribune,

“Mr. Amit Singh, a registered player with the Gujarat Cricket Association, who has also been arrested by the Delhi Police, has been suspended by the BCCI, pending inquiry,” the cricket board said in a statement.

Test player Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were also barred after their arrest on Thursday.

Amit, who has previously played for the same Rajasthan team the other three represent, is among 14 people being kept in police custody for five days.

The spot-fixing case is being investigated by Delhi police, who claim they have phone records to prove the players conceded more than a set number of runs per over for money given by bookmakers. The accused face charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth’s lawyer Deepak Prakash said the pace bowler was being framed in the spot-fixing case.

“There is no evidence against Sreesanth,” Prakash told reporters Friday. “He (Sreesanth) says he has no idea about spot-fixing and has not been in touch with bookmakers. All allegations against him are baseless and we’ll move the court for bail tomorrow.”

Spot-fixing involves performing in a pre-determined way at set times for the benefit of gamblers.

Investigators have said the players gave signals such as rotating a watch or hanging a towel at the waist before giving away the minimum number of runs decided upon, for which they received up to 6 million rupees ($110,000) per over.

This is not the first instance of spot-fixing in Indian cricket.

Last year, little-known all-rounder T.P. Sudhindra was handed a life ban after he was shown in a sting operation by India TV as agreeing to bowl a no-ball at a predetermined time in a local T20 game in the central Indian city of Indore.

The most high-profile case in cricket was in 2010, when former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, fast bowler Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were found guilty of spot-fixing during a series in England and served between three and seven months in prison.

Meanwhile, Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait has strongly denied any link to the arrest of three Indian teammates allegedly involved in spot-fixing during an Indian domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Tait’s name was circulated in social media, on radio and a number of websites along with the three Indians, but he robustly denied any wrongdoing in a statement.

“I’m bewildered, I’m angry and I’m upset at the false suggestions I’ve been involved in any wrongdoing,” he said in the statement.

“While I welcome the recent statements from police clearing me of any involvement, for a few hours I was deeply distressed by the rumours that were rapidly circulating about me, most of which were aired in the social media space.

“Not only were they without foundation, they highlight the danger of a medium that deals with innuendo rather than fact, the result of which has brought my name into question,” he added.

“At no stage in my career have I engaged in spot or match fixing and I’m in discussions with my manager and legal representatives to examine how this episode unfolded and any further action I may take.”

Cricket Australia said the head of its anti-corruption unit Sean Carroll had spoken to Tait following Delhi police’s statement.

“Shaun reiterated to CA that he had absolutely no involvement in any of the issues that are currently being investigated,” CA said in a statement on Friday.

“CA is comfortable that Shaun is being appropriately supported in India and reminds those who have been speculating on the ongoing investigations to base their comments on known facts, not unsubstantiated rumour.”

Spot-fixing is an illegal activity where a specific part of a game, but not the outcome, is fixed.

Sreesanth, who has played 27 Tests for India, is alleged to have been paid four million rupees ($75,000) to give away around 14 runs in an over while playing for the Royals against the Kings XI Punjab on May 9.

Chavan also allegedly agreed to give away the same number of runs in a match on Wednesday night against the Mumbai Indians in exchange for six million rupees ($110,000), police said.

A third player, Chandila, is accused of accepting two million rupees ($36,000), for giving away a set number of runs in a match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Pune Warriors.

Investigations into the spot-fixing scandal engulfing the Indian Premier League have claimed that more than 50 phone calls were allegedly routed through Pakistan during negotiations for the fixing.

Although police remain tight-lipped, they said the phone records of bookies and players showed they were in touch with two Dubai-based bookies, Sunil Abhay Chandani alias Sunil Dubai and Suresh Nagar alias Junior Kolkata.

They added that evidence in their possession suggests both Chandani and Nagar acted as a link between bookies in India and Karachi and Lahore based bookies. Investigators of the Special Cell of police pointed out that Chandani travelled between New Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai and London.

Meanwhile, consternation in India over the spot fixing scandal refused to die as more sordid details about the multi-billion dollar IPL cash cow were revealed.

The principal manipulator of the scandal, Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth, it is now known, used a towel to signal the bookies when they should place bets. Although police sources said all three players playing for the Rajasthan Royal franchise – Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chava confessed – their lawyers hotly contested this.

Sreesanth’s lawyer, Deepak Prakash, voiced doubt about the credibility of the evidence. “My client has no idea of what was going on. The charges are frivolous and baseless. Sreesanth has not spoken to any of the bookies. There are no tapes which have his voice,” he said, in reference to apparent recordings of his client speaking to the bookmakers.

On the infamous towel, Prakash said the “towel is a lucky charm for Sreesanth. He has worn one in 90% of his matches. It is no evidence.” When asked why Sreesanth did not wear it in the first over he bowled, Prakash replied, “Only when you sweat will you ask for a towel. In the first over, there was no sweat.”

More than 20 people have also been arrested all over India in connection to the scandal for questioning.

Rajasthan Royals team management, including the owners – actress Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra and captain Rahul Dravid may be called for an inquiry “if there is a need,” according to senior New Delhi police officials.

The role of the team management has come into focus after spinner Chandila’s lawyer alleged it was aware of players being approached by bookies.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also asked New Delhi police to share evidence and call records of the three players to verify their claims.  Many players, current and former, have suggested that the culprits be banned from cricket for life.

Cases are being prepared under the Organised Crimes Act which could imprison a convicted person for a maximum seven-year period.