Pakistani businessman accused of fixing cricket match-fixing hearings

DUBAI: A Pakistani man based in the UAE, has been arrested on suspicion of offering large sums of money to high profile cricket players accused of match-fixing in order to pre-determine guilty outcomes at their hearings.

Amir Katt, a self-proclaimed ‘successful general businessman’, was earmarked as the ring-leader of a burgeoning new betting industry in which punters gamble on the outcome of the numerous match-fixing hearings being undertaken by cricketing boards across the world.

“Danesh Kaneria [ex-Pakistani cricketer] was almost certainly not guilty of any match-fixing, but then he told the hearing committee some obviously ambiguous lies to throw his evidence into disrepute,” stated Mish Inary, the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Office supply manager.

It is understood that Katt offered Kaneria “significant discounts” off purchases at a selection of popular retailers across the UAE by way of a text message earlier this month. An unexplained 3am call from an unnamed African nation to Katt’s phone, lasting all of 2.3 seconds, was also deemed to be evidence of his suspicious activities.

“We are on high alert for any signs that Katt may himself attempt to fix a guilty result for his own trial” added Inary.