ISLAMABAD: The three Pakistani cricketers, accused of an alleged betting scam, have reportedly admitted before police that they received money from the bookie Mazhar Majeed but denied any knowledge of the wrongdoing, saying that the money recovered from them was given on account of sponsorship contracts that they had signed with the different commercial organizations, said legal advisor of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The players Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Test captain Salman Butt were interviewed separately on Friday by Scotland Yard investigators at a police station in London.

“All the players have informed the police that the man Mazhar Majeed was their agent, but they had no knowledge about his illegal activities,” the PCB legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi told private TV channels in Pakistan. He said that the three players also showed a copy of their sponsorship contracts to London police, which they signed with Majeed. The players were later released without any criminal charges.

The Scotland Yard police seized money and mobile phones from the players on last Sunday, investigating any possible link between the bank notes found in their possession and the money handed to Mazhar Majeed as part of the ploy by British tabloid News of the World, which made the allegations. News of the World accused agent Mazhar Majeed of accepting money in exchange for getting fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer to bowl no-balls during the Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan. Majeed, was arrested last weekend by police over the News of the World allegations over money-laundering allegations.

Rizvi said that players all around the world have their agents and it’s not something new. “The players choose their agents on their own and the board has nothing to do with it,” he said, adding that Mazhar had been associated with different Pakistan players as an agent for the last six to seven years.

Test captain Salman Butt, Asif and Aamer were suspended by the International Cricket Council on Thursday. They have two weeks time to decide whether they want to appeal against the suspension.

Rizvi turned down the reports that captain Salman Butt had taken the money from Majeed allegedly to arrange dowry of his sister.

The legal advisor said that the players had gone to the police station voluntarily and that they were not under arrest. He said that the players would extend full cooperation to the police and the ICC, which has charged them under its anti-corruption code and temporarily banned them from playing in any form of cricket.

He said that all the three players were issued separate notices by the ICC and now the players have to fight their appeals on their own.

“The PCB will just monitor what happens at the appeals, but they have to contest it on their own,” Rizvi said.

Betting in cricket and other sports should be legalised in India, a Delhi court has said, pointing out that the police have failed to curb illegal betting in the country. Legalising betting, the court said, would help the government keep track of the transfer of funds and even use the revenue generated for public welfare.

“It does not need divine eyes to see that ’satta’ in cricket and other games is reaching an alarming situation. The extent of money that it generated is diverted to clandestine and sinister objectives like drug trafficking and terrorist activities,” additional sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma, of a Delhi trial court. “It is high time that our legislature seriously considers legalising the entire system of betting online or otherwise so that enough revenues can be generated to fund various infrastructural requirements for the common man and thus check the lucrative business in organised crime.”

The judge cited a media report that claimed more than Rs. 20,000 crores (approximately US$427 million) were pumped in by illegal betting syndicates during the IPL last year.

“A little surfing on the internet would reveal that in Delhi alone there would be operating as many as 2,000-3,000 bookies at any given point of time when cricket matches or even other matches are played all over the world. This could not be done under the very nose of police without their knowledge,” the judge said.

The court was also critical of the police for its laxity in trying to keep a check on the illegal business. “The half-hearted and lackadaisical approach of the police in nabbing the perpetrators of this organised crime on satta business leaves an irresistible impression that police is not only ill-equipped to deal with such cases but probably they have higher stake in continuance of the same under their patronage.”

The court made its remarks while allowing an appeal by two people held guilty by a lower court for betting under the Delhi Police Gambling Act. It said there was not enough evidence to convict the two, who were prosecuted for organising betting on the 2007 World Cup match between Australia and South Africa.

Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of the Pakistan team’s spot-fixing scandal, was released on bail by Scotland Yard on Monday, but will have to appear before the police at a later date. The police force refused to discuss the bail conditions or details of their investigative interviews with Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, whose mobile phones they had confiscated.

Majeed had been arrested on Saturday, following the expose that claimed he was paid 150,000 to arrange a fix with the Pakistan team. He was caught on camera by the News of the World claiming to have bribed Pakistan’s bowlers to bowl no-balls at previously agreed moments during the Lord’s Test.

Pakistan are leaving London on Monday to travel to Taunton – a day earlier than scheduled after the four-day finish to the final Test – to prepare for the limited-overs matches. They are due to play a warm-up match against Somerset on Thursday before travelling to Cardiff for the first of two Twenty20 internationals on September 5.

Richard Gould, the Somerset chief executive, said the county was preparing as normal for the team’s arrival. “We are expecting them in the next 12-24 hours,” he told Cricinfo. “They are due to train on Wednesday, but if they need anything before then they’ll have the use of the indoor school and gym. We hope to give them the best chance to prepare for the one-day series.”

Gould added that the club would be implementing the security plans they used during the World Twenty20 last year when Taunton hosted the women’s group matches, but that wasn’t a response to events of the last 24 hours.

“We aren’t looking at increasing the security presence,” he said. “We had already decided to implement the plans from last year because it was a high-profile side visiting and the model we used at the World Twenty20 was drawn up to cater for such events.”

There are a number of fresh faces joining up with the squad for the one-day leg of the tour, including Shahid Afridi who returns as captain in place of Salman Butt having given up the leadership following the first Test against Australia, at Lord’s, in July. Six players who aren’t involved are returning to Pakistan with Imran Farhat, Raza Hasan, Shoaib Malik, Tanvir Ahmed, Umar Amin and Yasir Hameed not included for the Twenty20 and ODIs.

Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, said the game’s governing body would wait for the police report on the issue before deciding on a course of action. “Until and unless the process of investigation is over, it is improper for me to react,” Pawar said on Monday. “We have discussed it within the ICC and have decided to wait for the police’s investigation report. After that we have to take a viewpoint of the two boards.”

Pawar is scheduled to hold a conference call with other board chiefs later on Monday.

Many boards have already reacted, some of them airing concerns over the fate of planned series against Pakistan. New Zealand Cricket appealed for a swift resolution to the issue to avoid any fallout on Pakistan’s year-end tour of the country . “Justice needs to be done, but also swiftly to stop this dragging on,” New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan told TV3 News. “It’s very important that we have their best team and that we prepare as well as possible for the World Cup which immediately follows the tour.”

Pakistan will play three Twenty20 matches, two Tests and six one-day internationals against New Zealand between December 26 and early February.

The BCCI said the matter was for the PCB and ICC to handle. “The BCCI has got nothing to do with it,” its media and finance committee chairman Rajiv Shukla said. “Even if some Indian bookies are involved, the Indian police will look into the matter.”

Yawar Saeed, the touring side’s manager denied that the allegations proved that Pakistan cricket was institutionally corrupt. “I would not like to say that. Yes, one has heard and one has read [the allegations], but I would not like to go that far,” said Saeed, insisting that the tour itinerary would continue as planned.

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Thomson Reuters is the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

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