PCB launches committee to probe umpire fixing claims

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has constituted a committee to probe into the allegations of corruption against umpires Nadeem Ghouri and Anis-ur-Rehman.

Although the PCB is yet to make an official announcement regarding the formation of this committee, reliable sources have said that board's legal experts were on the panel.

"The PCB executive co-ordination committee that met on Tuesday discussed about Nadeem Ghouri. The members were briefed that the committee had already requested the Indian channel that carried out the sting operation to provide the unedited tapes," a source in the board said.

Ghauri and Rehman have been accused, along with four other umpires from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, of corruption by India TV, which carried out a sting operation to get the umpires to speak on camera

But Ghouri has vehemently denied the allegations and said the video was fake.

The ICC has already suspended the six umpires named in the sting operation and asked the respective home cricket boards to carry out their own investigations into the matter.

"The PCB executive co-ordination committee discussed the Ghouri issue in detail and also the fact that he had been claiming that he had already informed a board official about the offer made to him by the undercover reporter," the source added.

The source said the committee would be questioning the two umpires and would also like to question the undercover reporter.

"The committee has legal experts on it, as the ICC has indicated that it wants to get to the bottom of the truth," the source added.

The PCB executive co-ordination committee is said to have also discussed the performance of the national team in the recently-held ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.