ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) finally agreed on Thursday to work together on the PSL spot-fixing probe.

During a meeting held on the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, senior officials of the FIA and the PCB agreed to work together to root out the menace of corruption from cricket in Pakistan and assist each other in completion of departmental, legal and criminal proceedings against those found guilty of corruption.

The meeting followed contacts between the interior minister and Pakistan Super League (PSL) chairman Najam Sethi.

Under the arrangement finalised during the meeting, the PCB will provide the FIA all documents and data related to criminal proceedings against corrupt elements while the latter will provide forensic and other related assistance to the former for its tribunal and departmental proceedings.

It was decided that the FIA’s ongoing proceedings would continue, but criminal proceedings involving registration of FIR would follow the conclusion of PCB inquiry. Both sides will exchange actionable intelligence and related information about elements involved in spot- and match-fixing and other corrupt practices.

The two sides will work with other law enforcement agencies to evolve a mechanism for rooting out corrupt practices from local tournaments. They will request the interior ministry to help eradicate the menace of betting by directing the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block betting websites in the country.

The PCB will assist the FIA in finalising criminal action against all those involved in corrupt practices and actively participate in the legal process already started by the agency. Both sides will hold periodic meetings when required to assist each other in matters relating to corrupt practices and other similar cases.

The interior minister, while talking to reporters on Wednesday, said the FIA and the PBC would work together to investigate the involvement of Pakistani cricketers in spot-fixing. Their officials would hold a meeting and decide how to proceed together on the matter. He said the extent of gambling and the number of cricketers involved in the scam were yet to be determined.

Chaudhry Nisar said he had also asked the FIA to broaden the scope of investigation and include bookies in it. He said there had been many match-fixing incidents attributed to Pakistan in the past and in one such incident, three Pakistani cricketers had been sent to jail.

It was in the interest of justice to take the case to its logical conclusion as the people involved in match-fixing had brought Pakistan a bad name, he added.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017