Sport - Cricket

Court dismisses Malik's appeal

Karachi May 21 A Pakistan court has dismissed former cricket captain Salim Malik's appeal against a life ban from the game for match-fixing, court sources said on Tuesday.

``The court has dismissed Malik's revision appeal and the full judgement would be released later,'' a Lahore High Court official told AFP.

Lahore High Court judge Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari accepted the appeal hearing last year after a civil court rejected the application.

In May 2000 the Pakistan Cricket Board banned Malik from playing cricket at any level and holding any office after implementing recommendations of a match-fixing inquiry conducted by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum.

The Qayyum inquiry, conducted between September 1998 and October 1999, found evidence of Mailk's involvement and also recommended a life ban for former pacer Ataur Rehman and fined six others including current captain Waqar Younis.

Malik, 37, who played 103 Tests and 283 one-day internationals for Pakistan until 1999, refused to comment on the decision.

However, his lawyer Raja Jahanzeb Akhtar said he and his client were disappointed. ``We are very disappointed because the life ban was imposed without giving Malik a chance to clarify his position,'' Akhtar told AFP.

``We would definitely fight till the last and take the matter to the Supreme Court because there is no justification in banning Malik on the basis of an inquiry,'' he said.

Malik was first accused of involvement in match fixing by Australian trio Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May who alleged he offered them bribes to underperform during Australia's matches on the 1994-95 tour of Pakistan.

Malik's name also featured in an Indian match fixing inquiry released in November 2000 while former South African captain Hansie Cronje also linked him with match fixing.

Cronje and India's Mohammad Azharuddin are two other captains serving life bans for alleged match fixing.

The match-fixing scandal has rocked cricket since 1994 prompting the International Cricket Council to form an anti-corruption unit to curb the menace.

AFP

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