PCB serves legal notice on Arthur for match-fixing claims

Tafazzul Rizvi, the PCB's legal advisor, confirmed that the notice had been dispatched to Arthur with copies to the International Cricket Council and Cricket South Africa as well.
"He has been asked to provide evidence to back up his claims which we know he doesn't have or make an unconditional apology for his remarks that are disparaging to Pakistan cricket," Rizvi told PTI.

"If he does not apologise then we reserve the right to initiate proceedings for damages against him as a board and on behalf of the players," he said.

Arthur, in an interview with South African website News24 last week, said that there were "strong suspicions" of match-fixing when Pakistan collapsed dramatically to lose the fifth and decisive ODI against South Africa in Lahore three years ago.

"There was a strong suspicion of match-fixing and it took some of the gloss off the series win," Arthur had said.

The PCB notice notes that the board has reason to believe that such scandalising statements have been made by Arthur to "sell" his biography."

The notice concludes that without any proof, the claims and allegations are "whimsical, frivolous, defamatory, disparaging, denigrating, libelous, slanderous and derogatory."

Rizvi said the PCB was very firm about anti-corruption measures but at the same time would no longer tolerate anyone making frivolous allegations and claims about Pakistan cricket and players.

"We have had enough of these scandalous and damaging statements. We are also in the process of finalising a legal notice for the Sun newspaper that alleged that the third one-day against England at the oval was fixed," he said.