ISLAMABAD, Aug 31, (Agencies): Pakistan’s top crime investigative agency will send a team to Britain this week to look at corruption allegations against some of the country’s cricket players, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Investigations by British police and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are already underway into a newspaper report alleging three Pakistan players had been bribed to fix incidents in last week’s fourth Test against England.
London police confiscated the mobile phones of Test captain Salman Butt as well as pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and the trio — plus wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal — were questioned at the team’s hotel.
A senior official at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Karachi told Reuters the three-member team was likely to leave for London on Wednesday and planned to meet British police and players.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has sought reports from Pakistani officials in London, according to his official spokesman.

“The President is in touch with the High Commissioner in London and has asked for reports on the issue,” Farhatullah Babar told Reuters.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said the players being investigated would not be suspended without proof of wrongdoing, however.
“There is a case going on over here with Scotland Yard,” Ijaz told website cricinfo.com.
“This is only an allegation. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken.”
The ICC’s anti-corruption unit has been asked to submit a report on its investigation within the next three days, the world governing body’s President Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
“We at the ICC are waiting for definite information from the PCB and our own anti-corruption unit. We hope to get something in the next two to three days’ time and that information would lead to appropriate action, if required,” he said.

Australia Test
Pawar has ruled out the possibility of Pakistan cutting short their tour of England.
On Monday, the police said they had released on bail a 35-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers following the report in Britain’s News of the World newspaper.
According to the report, Mazhar Majeed, an agent who said he represented 10 Pakistan players including Butt, said Amir and Asif had bowled three no-balls between them by pre-arrangement in the fourth Test against England which finished on Sunday.
The scandal has outraged cricket fans in Pakistan and the country’s federal sports minister, Mir Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani, said the players would be given “maximum punishment” if allegations against them were proved.
“No one has the right to play with the dignity, honour of the country,” he told Reuters. “If the allegations are proved then there could be maximum punishment.
“It could be lifetime ban, it could be anything, it depends on the allegations.”
Family and friends in Amir’s home village said they were shocked by the allegations against the 18-year-old, who had been named Pakistan’s man of the England series after becoming the youngest player to capture 50 Test wickets.
“Like the entire nation, I and my family are truly disappointed,” Amir’s elder brother, Mohammad Ramzan told Reuters at the family home in the Punjab village of Changa Bangial.
“We are praying day and night that they come clean on these allegations and continue to play. This is a conspiracy.”

Amir’s friend Babar Shabir Mirza added: “He is not that kind of a person. We are all so sad and will defend our friend. It is so painful that our people are cursing and abusing their own heroes.”
In London, two men and a woman have been arrested in Britain in connection with allegations that Pakistani cricket players were involved in a betting scam, customs officials and sources said Tuesday.
“Three individuals were arrested on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering,” said a statement from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, a government agency.
“This includes two 35-year-olds (a male and a female) from the Croydon area and a 49-year-old male from the Wembley area. These individuals were arrested, questioned and have been bailed pending further investigation.”
Croydon and Wembley are suburbs of London.
A source said the arrests were linked to allegations that members of the Pakistan cricket team were involved in a betting scam, although a spokeswoman for HM Revenue and Customs refused to confirm this or give further details.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has promised “decisive action” if newspaper allegations, that a middleman took money to arrange for Pakistani players to bowl no-balls against England last week, prove to be true.

Pak players to meet officials: Pakistan captain Salman Butt and opening bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif will travel to London on Wednesday to meet with Pakistan officials in the wake of match-fixing allegations.
Team manager Yawar Saeed made the announcement in the team hotel on Tuesday, and said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt and the country’s high commissioner will attend the meeting.
The three players are then expected to return to the squad, Saeed said.
Pakistan’s cricketers held a closed training session on Tuesday, locked away from a media circus seeking to uncover if the players illegally fixed or manipulated matches.
Pakistan prepared for a warm-up game against Somerset in the western England town of Taunton from Thursday with a net session that was unusually closed to the media.
“It’s a challenge and we will try to make sure they are focused on the game,” Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said of the difficulties in now motivating his players.
Pakistani and ICC officials are due to meet to decide if the implicated players should be suspended from the two Twenty20 games and five one-day internationals against England starting from Sunday.

Lahore High Court summons players: The Lahore High Court has summoned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, the federal sports minister and seven cricketers on Sept 7 to hear a petition calling for the players to face treason charges.
Lawyer Ishtiaq Ahmed filed the petition in the High Court to initiate treason proceedings against players who are being investigated for alleged spot fixing on the current tour of England.
He said he wanted to see the players banned for life and their assets seized.