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 | | Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 17:50 GMT Wasim called by fixing inquiry  Wasim says his conscience is clear By a BBC Sport Online correspondent in Lahore Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has been summoned to appear next Saturday before an inquiry probing match-fixing allegations during the 1999 World Cup. Akram led the side during the tournament in England when two of their defeats - to Bangladesh and India - came under suspicion.
"I am ready to appear before any commission and want this maligning campaign against the Pakistan team and players to end once and for all," Akram told BBC Sport Online last month. Akram, who has suffered from diabetes since 1995, is currently taking part in an awareness campaign around Pakistan as a spokesperson for a pharmaceutical company. Saturday's hearing Justice Karamat Bhandari's one-man commission held its seventh hearing Saturday, at which two Pakistani journalists appeared. Waheed Khan of Pakistan's largely circulated The News and freelancer Zahid Maqsood told the court they had heard rumours of match-fixing but couldn't substantiate the allegations. "I covered the full World Cup and heard people saying that Pakistan's defeat against Bangladesh was fixed but nobody gave any proof," Khan said. The inquiry was set up following claims from former South African cricket chief and current World Cup 2003 director Ali Bacher that he had been told matches were fixed.
However, although he made the claims in front of South Africa's King Commission, Bacher has so far declined to appear before this inquiry. The commission urged Bacher to provide material or record his statement to substantiate allegations of match-fixing, but Bacher has not responded as yet. Khan said that Bacher's statement would be crucial. "Since Dr Bacher first levelled allegations of match-fixing in the 1999 World Cup, his statement would be crucial and he must provide the material," he said. Maqsood confirmed to the commission that match-fixing rumours surrounded Pakistan's World Cup defeats. "I did not cover the Pakistan-Bangladesh match, but heard a lot of rumours about the match being fixed. However, no one gave any solid proof," he said. "An Indian journalist told me that Pakistan would lose the match, but he too had no material to substantiate those claims." Fixing denied Justice Bhandari was appointed in May this year and started his proceedings in September. Four top Pakistan players - current captain Waqar Younis, Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq - denied any match-fixing while recording their statements last month. Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum conducted Pakistan's first judicial inquiry in 1998 and 1999. It saw former captain Salim Malik and all-rounder Ata-ur-Rehman banned for life while six others, including Wasim and Waqar, were fined. Qayyum concluded that, while there was insufficient evidence to ban Wasim, he should not be regarded as above suspicion. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Other top Cricket stories:  Links to more Cricket stories are at the foot of the page. | |||
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