Run away cricketer Zulqarnain Haider seeks UK asylum

London : Pakistan’s wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haide, who claimed to have received death threat, is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.

Haider fled from Dubai to London on Monday after receiving death threats when he refused to fix two matches.

“If your family is threatened, you would think like me,” said the 24-year-old Haider at a media conference in west London.

Also retired from the International cricket, Haider said he was a player and a good citizen did not want to cheat his country.

Haider claimed that he had been approached in Dubai by a man, who asked him to fix the fourth and fifth one-dayer against South Africa.

“He said, ‘If you work with us, we will give you a lot of money,” said Haider. “‘If not and you go back home, we will kill you and your family’.”

The wicketkeeper observed that all players’ phone calls should be recorded as a way to stamp out corruption.
He said he did whatever he thought to be better for Pakistan.
He said he did not want to highlight name of any fellow player but claimed that a man issued him threats at his face.

Proposing strict actions to eliminate corruption from Pakistan cricket, he said players found guilty of match-fixing must be banned for lifetime.
Zulqamain said he was undergoing immense psychological pressure.

?I performed well despite serious life threats,? he claimed.
The cricketer would hold meeting with Wajid Shamsul Hassan, the Pakistan High Commissioner in London.

Explaining why he had sought asylum in Britain, Haider added: “This country is very humane, very co-operative, and there are very nice people here and there are very good rules here for my safety.”
Haider, who is currently staying at an unknown address in Britain and is holding a visitor’s visa which will expire after one month, insisted he had no intention of claiming asylum permanently.

“I don’t want any aid from the British government.”

The PCB has suspended Haider’s contract for violating its terms and conditions. Pakistan’s cricket authority claimed to have been unable to contact Haider, though he has spoken to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.
Pakistan sports minister Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani insisted on Wednesday that the government would not support any move from Haider to get asylum in the UK.

“We don’t support his actions and believe he should have come to us if he was under threat from anyone,” said Jakhrani.
Speaking before Haider’s media conference, former Pakistan captain Imran Khan said Haider’s sudden exit to Britain to seek asylum was a “shameful” incident.

” Sadly, this incident only gives credence to the feeling our players are linked with bookmakers or are controlled by them. The recent spot-fixing allegations have not been helpful at all for Pakistan cricket.”
The wicketkeeper has played four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals since his debut in 2007, and played one Test match against England at Edgbaston this summer, where he scored 88 runs in the second innings.

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