PSL spot fixing: Khalid Latif agrees to appear before PCB anti-corruption body

Karachi: Suspended Pakistan batsman Khalid Latif, who is being investigated for his suspected involvement in the spot-fixing scandal in the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), has agreed to appear before the body's Vigilance and Security Department (VSD) on May 2.

Latif has been charged for breaching six of the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code during the second edition of the PSL.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had yesterday issued a summon to Latif after he failed to turn up before the PCB Security and Vigilance department, citing concerns over the fairness of the ongoing investigation.

The 31-year-old was issued a fresh notice on April 17 with the PCB asking the batsman to appear before its three-member tribunal on April 26.

He had earlier declined to attend the meeting, telling the cricket board that he refused to appear before the anti-corruption panel as he was concerned about the fairness of the investigation.

However, in a latest letter addressed to the PCB on Sunday, he agreed to attend the meeting, but expressed his concerns over the involvement of the PCB's VSD Senior General Manager Muhammad Azam Khan in the investigation, accusing Khan of "levelling false charges" against him and "misrepresenting facts".

"I hope that since I have no trust in you, you will not participate in my interview," the Dawn quoted Latif as saying in the letter addressed to Khan.

"But if you do so, it will be a mala fide act on your part and I will participate under protest in my interview," he added.

The cricketer had earlier alleged that the PCB's VSD Senior General Manager had "twisted the facts" in a notice of demand issued to him on April 28 ordering him to appear before the vigilance board on May 2.

Latif and Sharjeel Khan -- both openers for Pakistan's Twenty20 team -- were provisionally suspended and expelled from the PSL in Dubai on February 10 on charges of meeting a suspicious man linked to an international betting syndicate.

Two other former Pakistan openers, Nasir Jamshed and Shahzaib Hasan, were also suspended in the case.

Meanwhile, the PCB had last month imposed a year-long ban and a fine of one million dollar on left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan for violating its anti-corruption code during the PSL which took place in early March.