Pakistani Cricketer Seeks Shelter in UK After Threats

Pakistani wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider makes an unsucceful attempt to stump South African cricketer JP Duminy (back) during the the first Twenty20 match between Pakistan and South Africa at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Stadium in the Emirati capital on Octobe (Aamir Quresh/AFP/Getty Images)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A Pakistani cricketer is seeking asylum in Britain after receiving threats for not cooperating in a match-fixing conspiracy.

Wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider arrived in London on Monday after fleeing his hotel in Dubai during the recent one-day series against South Africa.

He said that he had been approached by a man who asked him to fix the fourth and fifth one-dayers.
“I have decided it is best for me to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats,” he told the Geo News channel.

“It is best for me to step down because I can’t play in these circumstances. But I would like to continue to play domestic cricket.”

The Pakistan cricket team have been embroiled in a match-fixing scandal since a sting operation by the News of the World.

The newspaper paid a middle-man £150,000 to ensure that there would be three no-balls within the course of a match - which subsequently happened.

Zulqarnain said that he was concerned over the safety of his family.

“I was told to cooperate or I would face lot of problems,” he was quoted as saying.

“This person approached me while I had gone out of the hotel for dinner. He told me cooperate with us and you can make a lot of money. He said, ‘If you don’t cooperate you will no longer be part of the team and we can make life very difficult for you’.”

Haider scored the winning run on the fourth one-day international, thus foiling the plan to lose the match in favour of South Africa.

“The country is like a mother and any one who sells it cannot get anything in life,” Zulqarnain said.

“I did not want to sell my mother, I did not want to sell my country, and I did what I thought was better.”

The day after the match, he asked his manager for his passport so he could buy a mobile phone connection, and then disappeared from his hotel room.

He did not say what threats he had received specifically, as he was concerned over the safety of his family in Lahore, Pakistan. Local police officials in the province said that security had been beefed up around the family home, according to news reports.

After arriving in London, Zulqarnain was subjected to questioning from airport officials at Heathrow before being allowed to enter the country.

He told Geo News that he was considering seeking asylum in the country.

“I understand there is rule in Britain that if you are on right and if you are not a criminal, then they always protect you,” Zulqarnain said.