Big Pakistan names figure in Majeed’s audio

Big Pakistan names figure in Majeed's audio

A sports agent told an undercover reporter he could fix the results of cricket games using a stable of six Pakistani players, with a Test match costing ufffd1 million to rig, a London court heard Monday.

Can you hear me: Mohammad Asif outside the Southwark Crown
u00a0Court in London recently. PIC/AFP

The claim emerged as Mazher Mahmood, the former investigations editor for Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid, gave evidence at the trial of ex-Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif.

In video shown to Southwark Crown Court, the agent, Mazhar Majeed, was heard alleging that Australian players and some of the biggest names in Pakistani cricket history were prepared to fix parts of matches.

The video was secretly filmed inside a car as the agent and the reporter, who was posing as an Indian frontman for a Far East gambling syndicate, met on August 18 last year on the first day of Pakistan's Test against England at The Oval.

First Majeed said he would give the journalist proof of his influence by arranging for two no-balls to be bowled, for a fee of ufffd10,000 each, then said a "deposit" of ufffd150,000 was required for further activity. He detailed how to arrange a "bracket", where bets are made on incidents during a given period of play.

"I will give you a bracket for the following day... In terms of a deposit it is going to be ufffd150,000 minimum," the agent could be heard saying. Earlier, the court heard a separate audio recording of a meeting between Mahmood and the agent earlier the same day in a restaurant.

Naming famous former Pakistan national cricketers, the agent said in the recording: "It's been happening for centuries. It's been happening for years. Wasim, Waqar, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khanu00a0-- they all did it." Majeed went on to allege that Australian players would fix "brackets".

"The Australians, they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game," he said. He said the cost to arrange a "bracket" could be between ufffd50,000 and ufffd80,000 ($78,000 and $125,000). "For a result, Twenty20 is about ufffd400,000 and Test matches, depending on the situation, is about ufffd1 million," he added.