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ASIF Iqbal, the former Pakistan and Kent player, is the Inter-national Cricket Council official alleged to be the go-between in match-fixing by Salim Malik, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who have obtained a copy of the tapes made by the News of the World.
Iqbal, 56, played 58 Test matches for Pakistan before becoming the director of cricket at Sharjah, the Gulf venue which has staged more one-day internationals than any other ground and which has been at the centre of allegations of match-fixing.

In the tapes made by a News of the World undercover team, a man said to be Malik frequently mentions the name of Asif Iqbal, in one place saying: "After that, the bookies . . . the main one . . . obviously they will give some money to Asif Iqbal." Malik has since denied that he was the cricketer recorded in the tapes.

Asif Iqbal is one of the ICC Cricket Ambassadors 2000, a new role created earlier this year for former star players to enhance the profile of the game. Iqbal is known to have had a recent meeting with Malik in London, ostensibly to set up a cricket academy.

In the tapes, which are in a mixture of Punjabi, Urdu and English, it is said of the ICC official: "The lowest he will accept is £50,000 . . . He will be talking to the players, he can do it any time." The whole cost of fixing a match, according to the tapes, is £500,000, with £100,000 of it allegedly going to Malik himself.

In a portion of the tapes which the News of the World published last weekend Malik allegedly said: "You'll have four or five players in hand and they will be playing just for you." But in a portion of the tapes which was not published several members of the Pakistan team currently playing in the West Indies are named.

The Qayyum report, published last Wednesday, makes several unfavourable references to Iqbal. Overall, Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's report appears to involve some thorough investigation but the punishments do not fit the crimes, as if he had been warned by Pakistan's government not to damage the national image too much.

According to the Qayyum report: "The first person to appear before the Commission of Inquiry was former cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz. Sarfraz Nawaz was of the opinion that betting on cricket started in 1979-80 when Pakistan was on the tour of India under the captaincy of Mr Asif Iqbal. He was of the opinion that this spread to Sharjah and it was from there that match-fixing strated on a larger scale." Justice Qayyum then goes on to note the Ehtesaab or Accountability Bureau report into match-fixing ordered by the previous Pakistan government: "This report notes that gambling in cricket has its roots with Kerry Packer of Australia [the driving force behind the televising of one-day cricket although there is no implication that Packer has ever been involved in any way in match-fixing] and for Pakistan in the development of cricket in Sharjah under the guidance of Mr Abdul Rahman Bukhatir and with the assistance of Mr Asif Iqbal. Sharjah became a gambling event for bookies. It also noted that most of the gambling is channelled through Bombay, India.'

Iqbal was asked to appear before Qayyum's Commission of Inquiry. But as the report says: "It must be noted with great regret that a number of people were quite unco-operative and not forthcoming in these proceedings.

"This commission must also take notice of the [in]action of Mr Asif Iqbal. His name has been bandied around the most during this inquiry as being the first Pakistani involved in match-fixing and even now when allegations are made of gambling in Sharjah his name features. Yet he has never come forward to clear his name. Asif Iqbal legally does not need to come forward and defend himself. But morally he ought to have cleared the air."

® Ata-uh-Rehman, who is facing a life ban from the game after being named in the Qayyum report, was plying his trade yesterday in Lancashire's Ribblesdale League.

The former Pakistan fast bowler was playing for his club, Blackburn Northern, against Whalley, who have a picturesque ground where the first match between Lancashire and Yorkshire is believed to have been played in 1867.

Rehman came to the crease in the 18th over with Blackburn Northern at 35 for two. Wearing his Pakistan sweater and cap, he hit five sixes on his way to making 71 in a total of 147 for eight, and was finally caught at long-off