NOTW interview with Zoni
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/not...corrupt-world-of-match-fixing-in-cricket.html
Haider: Big mafia is fixing matches
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE by Mazher Mahmood and Dominic Herbert
November 13, 2010
Terrified . . . Zulqarnain Haider
Pakistan cricket cheats' suspensions upheld
Pakistan's Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir fail in ICC overturn bid
Butt and Amir in ICC hearing
Corruption crack down
Strauss outraged by Butt Accusations
'Slow play' probe
RUNAWAY Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider today reveals shocking new details about the corrupt world of match fixing in cricket.
Fearing for his life, Haider fled his team hotel in Dubai and landed at Heathrow Airport on Monday after being threatened by a bookie.
Terrified Haider is now seeking asylum in the UK after revealing he was told he would be killed because he refused to take part in match fixing.
In an exclusive interview with the News of the World, Haider reveals how:
* He fears corruption INSIDE the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
* Fixer Mazhar Majeed IMPRESSED bent players with his wealth
* Match fixing in cricket is RIFE around the world
* Players need tighter CONTROLS such as one registered mobile phone
* He FEARED standing up to coaches who sent him home after a minor injury
Speaking for the first time about our explosive exclusive, Haider, 24, praised the News of the World for its investigation to root out corruption in the game.
Haider, who refused to be wined and dined by dodgy Majeed, was replaced after the second Test match at Edgbaston - just three weeks before we exposed the scandal.
Asked if he was scared of telling his management and the PCB about the threats in Dubai, Haider told us: "Yes, I was scared because I was approached for match fixing.
"I was very confused. If I tell anyone, maybe the Pakistan Cricket Board, the management, my players, if I tell anyone the news would get out. I took all the pressure myself and I decided I would take a big step.
"I was very depressed and I thought it was a good decision if I left."
Despite our dossier of substantial evidence, the PCB still leapt to the defence of the suspended players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
Three weeks before we rocked the sport with our investigation, Haider made his Test debut at Edgbaston and made 88 in his second innings.
Haider, who this week quit international cricket, last night told of his pride at getting picked for his country.
He said: "Everyone follows the cricket in Pakistan and it is a good game for relations with other countries.
"It is like a religion. I was very proud and honoured to play for my country. It is a big thing for your whole life once you have got your debut. My wicket keeping was good on that debut."
Happier times . . . Zulqarnain Haider in action
But Haider's Test series was cut short when he suffered a minor injury to his finger and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was brought back in.
Akmal was already under investigation for his role in Pakistan's controversial defeat by Australia in January's Sydney Test.
On Friday, it emerged that Akmal is one of five players Pakistan have provisionally agreed not to select for next year's World Cup to try to clean up their image.
Haider told us: "It was not a big injury but they wanted Karman Akmal to come back in.
"I don't know the politics behind that. I just follow the management if they make a decision. They are my seniors, my management I do what they say.
"Maybe I could have played on, it was a little fracture. I was back in action after three weeks."
Haider revealed how fixer Majeed, who took a massive £150,000 cash from our undercover reporter, was a permanent fixture around the team during the Test.
He said he refused offers to go to dinner with Majeed, who boasted to our team that he had seven corrupt cricketers in his pocket.
Haider told us: "I would see him regularly. I met him, I thought then he was a normal man, an agent for players, getting them deals, like advertising deals.
"He was always there, in the hotel lobby, having dinner, at the ground. He was close to Salman.
"He looked wealthy, well-dressed, good car, well spoken. The players liked him because they are always impressed by wealthy people. I was impressed but I didn't want to go with him because I didn't know him.
"The players asked if I wanted to go for dinner with Majeed. I didn't go. One time it was Salman Butt who asked me if I wanted to go for dinner with Majeed but I said no. Karman Akmal went to dinner with him and Salman.
"He seemed trustworthy because he was with my captain. At the time Majeed looked like a decent, able person. Then, when you meet someone in that situation, you think they are decent but when you meet every day then maybe you guess what he is really like."
When the News of the World broke the story during the Fourth Test at Lord's, Haider was back with his family in Lahore.
He watched the three no-balls set up by Majeed and as our story went global he saw the footage of the fixer with his team-mates and taking the briefcase full of money from our team.
Haider said: "I was at home watching it on TV, it was top of the news channels. I was shocked, very shocked for Salman Butt to have done things because I was at an academy with him. In a training academy when I was younger.
"He was a decent guy and an educated person. I spoke to my family and to my brother about what this was doing for Pakistan. When I saw it I was shocked that this could happen. I couldn't believe it."
Our damning dossier of evidence is now in the hands of the ICC's anti-corruption team and Scotland Yard, who have launched a criminal investigation.
Haider said: "If the players are involved in this, and I think you [NOTW] will have the proof and you have given it to the ICC and the police, so give them a hard time, a life ban and that would be deserved.
"If I had done these things about match-fixing I would be banned for life.
"It is very shameful for Pakistan if it is proved they have done it. But if two or three are bad you can't blame the whole team.
"It is a big issue because in Pakistan your country is like your mother.
"It is shameful because you have sold your country if you fix a match, you have let down your country."
Haider, who said he feared for his life in Dubai, said he believes match fixing is rife
"In Pakistan a lot of people said there is match fixing around the world. People from all countries have told me there are a lot of people involved in match fixing and when you [NOTW] broke the news about Salmon Butt, Amir and Asif, I thought this is very big.
"They [the match fixer] are greedy for money because there is a lot of money involved in match fixing. The bookie [in Duba] told me if I got involved there would be a lot of money for me."
Haider, who has a wife and two daughters aged seven and four in Lahore under police guard, is applying for asylum in the UK.
He said: "I want an honest living, to pay tax and play county cricket in this country."
Haider praised the News of the World for blowing the whistle on match fixing and called for tighter controls on the players.
He said: "A big credit goes to the News of the World for breaking this story.
"I have told the ICC that one player is only allowed one SIM card and all the SIM cards record who is talking to who. They [the players] should be guarded more closely."
Haider said there is an atmosphere of fear and distrust in international cricket.
He said the sport now "feels dangerous" and is plagued by a "big mafia" working to corrupt the sport.
Haider said: "In that situation I don't want to trust anyone. There's a big mafia all over the world of bookies to fix matches.
"In the summer tour many people talked about it and the ICC say many people are involved in that, so it was very difficult for me.
"I heard it was a very common thing now to approach players. When I know I was selected for matches with South Africa, I went to my mother's graveside to be safe from that mafia of bad people. It [cricket] feels dangerous."
Haider scored an impressive 88 in the first match against England but was later sent home with a finger injury.
Haider was unhappy with the decision. He said: "It was a little injury. It was internal politics, I think..."
He said the ICC need to clampdown on the corruption to save the sport.
"They need to tape players' phones and check the players' accounts around the world and where that money comes from." Haider said.