Malik blames press for match-fixing remarks

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik, known for his foot-inthe-mouth disease when it comes to domestic and foreign policy issues , on Tuesday claimed that he did not tar the image of his country’s cricket players with the nasty “match-fixing” brush. “A section of (the) press has twisted my statement out of context , and wrongly projected my words,” Malik posted on microblogging website Twitter. Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi told a news agency that Malik had telephoned him to apologise for his comments, which came just two days before the semi-final .

The minister had said that he had warned the team “there should be no match fixing” and that the players were being closely monitored. He had said that though he was “sure the team has very clean members,” intelligence is being gathered on the cricketers, including “who are meeting them.” Malik's remarks were widely criticised in the Pakistan media and by other politicians, notably Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to the World Cup title in 1992. Pakistani media quoted PML-Q general secretary Mushahid Hussain Sayed as saying that the comments were an insult to the whole nation and demoralising for cricketers who were ‘battling out’ a ‘national cause’ on ‘enemy soil’ .

“It is like a devil quoting verses,” he said. In a statement Syed Munawar Hassan , chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), said Malik was working on an anti-Pakistan assignment. “He had told the media sometime ago that the Taliban will enter India to disrupt the World Cup matches. Now he has come up with the charge of match-fixing ,” Munawar said, adding that such statements could have negative impact on the performance of cricketers. Pakistan channels had reported that the comments angered the Pakistani players and Shahid Afridi raised the issue when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani telephoned him on Monday.