Pakistan star 'only repeated fixing claims'

A Pakistan Test batsman who reportedly accused his team-mates of fixing "almost every match", said yesterday he was only repeating allegations he read in the newspapers.

Yasir Hameed said he was approached by a man he believed was offering him a sponsorship deal and did not know the conversation was being recorded.

In a statement read out on the steps of the Pakistan High Commission in central London, a spokesman said Hameed was approached when he was having dinner at the Holiday Inn in Nottingham on the evening of August 30.

The man offered to arrange a sponsorship deal.

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It was only later that Hameed discovered the man was the News of the World "fake sheikh" Mazher Mahmood.

"Naturally, I was interested in what he had to say and we began a conversation," the statement said. "He offered me at least 50,000 for the deal."

He said he was asked for the names of four more players who may be interested in a similar deal and then asked about the match-fixing allegations.

"As I saw him as a friend and a potential agent I naively started to answer his questions," he said. "As far as I recall, I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about the matter."

Hameed said he was unaware of the hidden camera.

He said two days later the man called him and offered 25,000 to give a statement against the three players under investigation. He said he refused and put the phone down.