Pakistan cricket authorities Friday charged and suspended international player Shahzaib Hasan in an ongoing case over spotfixing during a recent Twenty20 league. The widening scandal, which has so far ensnared four other current or former national stars, has tainted the recently completed Pakistan Super League (PSL), hailed as a step towards restoring international cricket in the militancy-plagued country after the final in Lahore passed without incident.
A guilty verdict for the players would prove disastrous for Pakistan cricket, which was last rocked by a match-fixing scandal in 2010 that deprived it of three top players including paceman Mohammad Amir, who has since made a comeback. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Hasan was charged on three counts from during the PSL. "Hasan is given notice of charge and provisionally suspended with immediate effect from participating in all forms of cricket. He has 14 days to respond to (the) charges," said a PCB release.
The scandal surfaced on February 10 when Islamabad United players Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were suspended and expelled from the PSL on charges of receiving offers from a suspicious man linked to an international betting syndicate. A third Islamabad United player, Mohammad Irfan, was also suspended on Tuesday for not reporting offers from bookmakers. While former Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed was also provisionally suspended on charges of being a "go between" in the spot-fixing incident. Jamshed and another unnamed person were arrested in Britain last month but were bailed until April.
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