Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal turned down offers to fix one-day international matches against England during their tour of the UAE in 2012, British media claimed on Saturday.

According to reports, both the players immediately refused to get involved and reported the approaches to the team management.

Both were approached separately about rigging the series, which England won 4-0.

“It happened during that period and the person got the appropriate reply from me,” Afridi was quoted as saying.

“Shahid was approached by a gentleman in the lobby of the team hotel, but didn’t hang about to hear how much they were offering,” the Sun newspaper reported quoting a source close to the Pakistan team.

PCB chief Najam Sethi has recently disowned Sussex paceman Naveed Arif publicly, who has been suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board on charges of match-fixing alongside New Zealand’s Lou Vincent.

Sethi said Pakistan had “no relations” with Arif, who was charged on Thursday with six offences relating to a 40-over game between Sussex and Kent in August 2011.

The PCB head said the board has taken tough measures to crack down on cricket fixers.

“We have taken some stringent steps to stop corruption and have adopted zero tolerance on such things,” he said.

Former Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is serving a life ban for spot-fixing in an English county game.

Three Pakistani stars – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Amir – were given bans and jail time for their role in spot-fixing in the now-notorious Lord's Test against England in 2010.

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