BPL: Fortune Barishal refutes reports claiming that Shoaib Malik was engaged in match-fixing
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Fortune Barishal on Friday refuted the reports claiming that Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik was engaged in match-fixing during the tournament.
Following the reports that Fortune Barishal terminated Malik’s contract over suspicion of match-fixing, a spokesperson of the BPL franchise said that the reports about Malik’s match-fixing in the BPL tournament were “baseless”.
Fortune Barishal also posted a video message of franchise owner Mizanur Rahman on its official Facebook page, saying: “Don’t believe in such rumours made by yellow media’s [sic]. Shoaib Malik is a senior player. We should respect him and he deserves [sic] respect.”
Mizanur Rehman said that Shoaib Malik is a good cricketer, adding that the Pakistani player performed very well for his team.
Rehman confirmed that Malik left BPL due to personal reasons.
“This is wrong and completely misconception. I have not given any information to the news channel or anyone else. […] We do not have any complaint against Shoaib Malik, don’t try to make a big fuss out of this,” he said.
Malik also addressed the rumours in a statement posted on his X account along with Rehman’s video message.
The 41-year-old Pakistani cricketer, who played three matches for the franchise in the BPL 2024 in the Mirpur leg of the tournament, said that he “strongly refutes” the baseless rumours about match-fixing.
Official statement ;
— Shoaib Malik 🇵🇰 (@realshoaibmalik) January 26, 2024
I would like to address and dismiss the recent rumors circulating about my playing position with Fortune Barishal. I had a thorough discussion with our captain, Tamim Iqbal, and we mutually planned the way forward. I had to leave Bangladesh for a… pic.twitter.com/kmPqPt1nxv
Controversy started when Shoaib Malik reportedly bowled three consecutive no-balls in an over of the match played on January 22.
