Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said Monday he has hired a legal team for an English cricket board disciplinary hearing over a spot-fixing case that sent his former Essex team-mate to prison.
Mervyn Westfield was jailed for four months in February after admitting that he accepted money to under-perform during a Pro40 match between Essex and Durham in 2009.
The 23-year-old seamer named Kaneria -- arrested with him in 2010 but released without charge -- as the link between bookmakers and players.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said last week that Westfield and Kaneria would face a disciplinary hearing in May.
"Kaneria has hired three lawyers, two from the UK and one from Pakistan to represent him before the England and Wales Cricket Board," said a statement from the player's lawyer Farogh Naseem.
Naseem said Kaneria, who took 276 international wickets in 61 Tests and 18 one-day games for Pakistan, denied the allegations.
"Kaneria pleads not guilty to the charges... and also objects to any sanction being inflicted on him," the lawyer said.
Kaneria's legal team have asked the ECB to delay the hearing until at least May 10 to give them time to study a 400-page evidence bundle.
In February, London's Old Bailey court was told Westfield was paid nearly $10,000 to bowl so that a specific number of runs would be chalked up in the first over of a match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.
The 31-year-old Kaneria faces a life ban from the game if found guilty at the hearing, where a number of Essex players are expected to give evidence.
He has not played for Pakistan since the Nottingham Test against England in August 2010 -- the same tour that saw the infamous spot-fixing episode in the Lord's Test, which led to then-captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer being jailed on corruption charges.
Mervyn Westfield was jailed for four months in February after admitting that he accepted money to under-perform during a Pro40 match between Essex and Durham in 2009.
The 23-year-old seamer named Kaneria -- arrested with him in 2010 but released without charge -- as the link between bookmakers and players.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said last week that Westfield and Kaneria would face a disciplinary hearing in May.
"Kaneria has hired three lawyers, two from the UK and one from Pakistan to represent him before the England and Wales Cricket Board," said a statement from the player's lawyer Farogh Naseem.
Naseem said Kaneria, who took 276 international wickets in 61 Tests and 18 one-day games for Pakistan, denied the allegations.
"Kaneria pleads not guilty to the charges... and also objects to any sanction being inflicted on him," the lawyer said.
Kaneria's legal team have asked the ECB to delay the hearing until at least May 10 to give them time to study a 400-page evidence bundle.
In February, London's Old Bailey court was told Westfield was paid nearly $10,000 to bowl so that a specific number of runs would be chalked up in the first over of a match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.
The 31-year-old Kaneria faces a life ban from the game if found guilty at the hearing, where a number of Essex players are expected to give evidence.
He has not played for Pakistan since the Nottingham Test against England in August 2010 -- the same tour that saw the infamous spot-fixing episode in the Lord's Test, which led to then-captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer being jailed on corruption charges.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal added 152 runs stand to steer Pakistan to a convincing six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday. Umar Akmal scored 77 runs and Misbah-ul-Haq made 72 not out while Suranga Lakmal took two wickets as Pakistan overhauled the victory target in 39.5 overs for the loss of 4 wickets and gets the bonus point.
Pakistan put one foot in the final of the Asia Cup with a six-wicket win over a tired Sri Lankan outfit, which did not have enough steam to defend a modest 188. Pakistan's bowlers set up the win with a disciplined effort, and Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal compiled positive half-centuries to arrest a top-order wobble. Their eagerly anticipated clash with India on Sunday may not carry much context for them if India beat Bangladesh tomorrow, but Sri Lanka's second consecutive defeat makes an India-Pakistan final likely.
The defeat left a few important questions for Sri Lanka to answer after a long, strenuous season away from home, where they have had mixed results. Their shot-selection for one, starting from the seniors at the top, has been exposed, leaving plenty for the lower middle-order to do. With Upul Tharanga scoring another half-century at No.6, it strengthens his case for being reinstated as an opener, meaning that Mahela Jayawardene would have to move back down the order.
The presence of Dilshan and Jayawardene at the top was aimed at giving Sri Lanka a strong start in a must-win game. They started aggressively today, but in their quest lost quick wickets. It was an underwhelming performance from a team that bats deep but did not have the application to match their talent.
Jayawardene fell trying to drive past extra cover. Dilshan, after some crunching drives through the off side, fell off a miscued pull. The wicket was nicely set up by Aizaz Cheema, who peppered him with short deliveries and challenged him to target the on side, with a fielder in the deep. Two more soft dismissals, those of the young Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne, put a lot of pressure on Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga.
They suffered in the bowling Powerplay, scoring only 11 runs. Their stand of 96 featured several singles, 61 of them, and five boundaries. Tharanga was comfortable against the spinners, picking up boundaries through the off side via deft cuts. Sangakkara, who began with a clipped boundary past midwicket, pounced on a short delivery from Mohammad Hafeez to bring up the fifty stand.
Sri Lanka once again succumbed to a familiar weakness the batting Powerplay. As it happened against India, they lost their foothold in the first over of the field restrictions. Saeed Ajmal was taken off after the bowling Powerplay but Misbah brought him back at the start of the 36th over. He struck by bowling Tharanga with the doosra, before inducing a poor shot from Farveez Maharoof. Sangakkara tried to force the pace by charging Cheema but ended up dragging the ball onto the stumps. His reaction after being dismissed, swishing the air with his bat, summed up Sri Lanka's problems.
Pakistan picked up the last six wickets for just 27 runs and it was largely due to Sri Lanka's inability to read Ajmal's doosra. Cheema went on to take four wickets while Ajmal took three. It was an especially satisfying display by Cheema, who got a pasting early on but backed himself to bowl fast and attack the batsmen.
A timid start by Pakistan, which included the loss of three wickets, gave Sri Lanka hope of defending a modest 188. Jayawardene, maintaining a stony expression, had plenty to expect from his beefed-up bowling attack, and they responded by trying to make life tough for the top order by bowling tight lines. Some committed ground fielding, especially by Dilshan, and catching lifted the spirits of the bowlers.
Jayawardene stuck to his tactic of constantly shuffling fielders in various close catching positions to create chances. The openers, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez, started watchfully but succumbed to tame dismissals, not very different in character to their counterparts. Jamshed holed out to mid-on before Hafeez scooped the legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna to point.
Younis Khan gifted Suranga Lakmal his second wicket with an exaggerated whip to Farveez Maharoof at mid-on, who timed his dive and caught the ball inches off the ground. At 33 for 3, Sri Lanka were in the game but three boundaries by Akmal off a Lasith Malinga over in the bowling Powerplay - all risk-free - calmed the nerves for Pakistan. Misbah was prepared to wait for the bad deliveries, driving Prasanna past the covers before launching him for a six over long-on.
The calmness of Misbah and exuberance of Akmal combined well to ensure that Pakistan crossed the finish line before the 40th over, which gained them a bonus point. Akmal was strong behind square on the on side, sweeping the spinners and paddling them away with the fine leg up. As the target shrunk, Sri Lanka appeared to throw in the towel. The fast bowlers failed to control the scoring, as Pakistan found the gaps with ease during the batting Powerplay.
Sri Lanka have a very slim chance of making the final, provided they beat Bangladesh convincingly, and India lose both their remaining games. A back-door entry, however, would not leave them satisfied.
Set 130 to win Pakistan were going along nicely at 107-4 with 23 needed off the last three overs and 17 off the remaining two but Stuart Broad and Jade Dernbach did not lose courage and pulled off the win in the final over.
Broad dismissed a well set Umar Akmal (22) off the third ball of the penultimate over and gave away just four runs, leaving Jade Dernbach to defend 13 in the last, which he successfully did, removing Misbah-ul Haq (28) off the final delivery.
Dernbach finished with 2-24 and most importantly gave World Twenty20 champions an unexpected win.
Pakistan won the first match by eight runs while England won the second by 38 runs -- both played in Dubai.
Pakistan had lost opener Mohammad Hafeez for a second nought of the series but Awais Zia (23) and Shafiq added 40 for the second wickets before Zia was trapped leg-before by Graeme Swann and Shafiq was run out.
Captain Misbah and Umar Akmal added 37 for the fourth wickets and when it looked as if that would help Pakistan cross the line England pulled back with remarkable resilience.
With 13 needed off the final over Shahid Afridi took a couple before he was run out while taking a second off the next. The next three balls produced singles and a wide and with six needed off the final ball, Misbah was bowled.
Earlier off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 4-23 -- his third four wicket haul in the shortest form of the game -- to restrict England to a modest 129-6 after they won the toss and batted.
Ajmal, who destroyed England in the preceding three-Test series with 24 wickets to help Pakistan to a 3-0 rout, put the brakes on his rival's progress.
Opener Kevin Pietersen top scored with 62 not out, keeping one end intact during his 52-ball knock for his seventh T20 fifty. He hit six boundaries and a six off the last ball of the innings.
Ajmal provided Pakistan with the breakthrough after England raced to 29 by the fifth over, dismissing Craig Kieswetter (17) off a lofted shot at long-on where Shoaib Malik took the catch.
Kieswetter had hit a four and six off paceman Umar Gul in the third over.
Pakistan had Ravi Bopara caught behind off paceman Aizaz Cheema for one and Eoin Morgan run out for nine before Ajmal accounted for Jonny Bairstow (three), Jos Butler (seven) and Samit Patel (16).
The match ended England's long tour of the United Arab Emirates where they lost the Tests but won the one-day series 4-0
Salman Butt, then Pakistan's Test captain, and pacemen M Asif and M Aamir were handed lengthy bans by the International Cricket Council last year before an English court gave them prison sentences.
The trio and their agent Mazhar Majeed were charged for conspiring to bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test in 2010. But to their credit, Pakistan have not lost a Test series since then as Misbah-ul Haq has led them admirably -- both on and off the field.
Despite that the prelude to this series -- shifted to the United Arab Emirates because of security concerns in Pakistan -- was marred by the talk of the scandal, much to the anger of Misbah. "It's two years now and we have moved on from that diffficult period," said Misbah, not selected for that 2010 tour. "We want to focus on cricket. That is what we have been doing for an year and a half and that saga is past for us."
Since the Lord's Test, Pakistan drew 0-0 against South Africa, beat New Zealand 1-0, drew 1-1 against the West Indies, beat Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka 1-0 and Bangladesh 2-0. Misbah credits his players for the unbeaten run.
"The credit goes to the team and to players - after that difficult time everybody stuck to the task, gathered their thoughts and everybody wanted to prove to the world that we are good players and a good team," said Misbah.
"The key is performance of the team is showing that everything is going on well and we are determined to give our best against a tough opponent who are ranked number one in Tests." England captain Andrew Strauss, who led his team to 3-1 win in that spot-fixing marred series, also showed resolve to move on.
"The spot-fixing stuff is something we're desperately keen to move on from," said Strauss last week. "What's happened before is water under the bridge and I hope both sides can play the game in the right spirit." Pakistan's squad still has paceman Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal and Imran Farhat despite their names being mentioned by Majeed during the fixing trial.
But Strauss has no complaints over those inclusions. "It's their (Pakistan) obligation and duty to pick the best side they think is available to them," Strauss said. "We will play whichever XI is selected. We should see this series as an opportunity to erode or eradicate the perception that there's always issues between Pakistan and England."
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in a Test here in October last year, employing two spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman. They are likely to use the same ploy against England batsmen, regarded as weak on the Asian spin pitches. England are also considering the option of playing both their spinners in Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar along with two seamers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Panesar, who last played in the Cardiff Test of the 2009 Ashes, warmed up with an eight wicket haul in the second tour match. England may have a few worries over the form of middle-order batsmen Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan -- who all flopped in the lead-up games but Alastair Cook, Strauss and Jonathan Trott were among the runs.
SQUADS:
PAKISTAN: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), M Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz, M Talha, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman
ENGLAND: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Steve Davies, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara.
Rahul Dravid and M.S. Dhoni were out before lunch at the WACA Ground in Perth and Australia cleaned up the tail for 171 soon after the break to complete their third emphatic win.
India, the world one-day champions, have now lost seven straight away Tests after their 4-0 loss to England last year and this latest heavy defeat is likely to lead to calls back home for a shake-up, especially of the top order.
"In the games in England and here we have not put enough runs on the board," said skipper Dhoni, who later learned he had been suspended for one match by the International Cricket Council for his second slow overrate infraction in 12 months.
"There is only one instance where we have scored over 350 runs and you want to give bowlers those amount of runs so they can look to get the opposition out," he said.
"One or two bad innings can happen in Test cricket, but seven Test matches is a bit long," admitted the captain, who will miss the fourth and final Test in Adelaide starting on Tuesday week.
It was the second Test in a row the tourists had been beaten without Australia needing to bat twice, having been smashed by an innings and 68 runs in the second Test in Sydney.
Despite a gritty batting performance by their most inexperienced batsman, Virat Kohli, the last man to fall for 75, it was another shoddy batting display by the Indians, whose abject displays have caused much consternation at home.
Australian skipper Michael Clarke said the hosts would now go for the jugular and a series whitewash.
"No such thing as a dead rubber for me," Clarke said. "We haven't achieved much at this stage.
"We should be very proud, don't get me wrong, to beat the number-two-ranked Test team in this series, but we've got a lot of work to do before we'll be satisfied.
"In Adelaide, you'll see that our goal has not changed from the first Test of this series, and it won't change until we achieve what we want as a team."
India resumed at 88-4, needing another 120 runs to make Australia bat again, and Kohli and veteran Dravid briefly revived their hopes with a dogged 84-run stand for the fifth wicket.
However, the loss of Dravid (47) and Dhoni in quick succession before lunch had Australia closing in on victory. The death knell came quickly after the resumption, with yet another insipid performance by the Indian tail.
Swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus's incredible resurgence continued when he claimed three wickets in four balls after lunch, before Peter Siddle had Kohli caught behind to seal the win.
Hilfenhaus (4-54) claimed eight wickets for the match to have 23 wickets in the series at 16 apiece.
Kohli, who also top-scored in India's calamitous first innings with 44 as the tourists were dismissed for 161, before Australia made 369 on the back of David Warner's explosive 180, had been fighting his way towards his maiden Test century in his seventh Test, but received no support aside from Dravid.
Dravid's once-famed "wall" defence was again breached by Ryan Harris, who knocked the 39-year-old's leg stump out of the ground.
The delivery didn't do anything significant off the pitch, but found the gap between bat and pad, ending the veteran's vigilant innings after 177 minutes and 114 balls.
It was the fifth time in six innings in the series that Dravid had been bowled, and his average for the series of 28 is well down on his career average against Australia of 52.62.
Dravid has now been bowled more times in Test cricket than any other batsman -- 54 times.
Dhoni also failed once again, caught in the slips by a diving Ricky Ponting for two from the bowling of Siddle. The captain has made just 102 runs in the series at 20.40.
Finland's Jarkko Nieminen beat Julien Benneteau 6-2, 7-5 in the rain-delayed Sydney International final Sunday, sealing a remarkable tournament win after he came through qualifying.
Nieminen, ranked 77th, came into the pre-Australian Open contest with a 4-0 record against Benneteau and took a firm grip on the match after being broken in the first game, forcing three breaks of serve in the first set.
The second set at Olympic Park went with serve, with the 49th-ranked Frenchman saving a match point in the 10th game with a forehand winner to stay alive.
But Nieminen refused to be denied, holding serve and breaking his fellow 30-year-old to take the second set 7-5 in just under 80 minutes, sealing only the second tournament win of his career.
He is the first qualifier to win an ATP title since Sergiy Stakhovsky won in St. Petersburg in 2009.
"I tried to focus and win every point I could. I think I managed to do that pretty well," Nieminen said.
"I don't have a good record in finals, but I don't think I've done anything wrong in the ones I've played," added the Finn, who has been a beaten finalist 10 times.
"Today I felt I had a really good chance to take the title as I had the game to do it. It's been many years since that first title and I had many finals after that, but I'm pretty good at believing in myself."
The only previous ATP title for the left-handed Nieminen, a beaten Sydney finalist in 2009, came in Auckland in 2006.
Persistent showers on Saturday had prevented any play between the unseeded Benneteau, still searching for his first title, and Nieminen, who has been ranked as high as 13th.
The Australian Open, the year's first grand slam, starts in Melbourne on Monday.
Nieminen, ranked 77th, came into the pre-Australian Open contest with a 4-0 record against Benneteau and took a firm grip on the match after being broken in the first game, forcing three breaks of serve in the first set.
The second set at Olympic Park went with serve, with the 49th-ranked Frenchman saving a match point in the 10th game with a forehand winner to stay alive.
But Nieminen refused to be denied, holding serve and breaking his fellow 30-year-old to take the second set 7-5 in just under 80 minutes, sealing only the second tournament win of his career.
He is the first qualifier to win an ATP title since Sergiy Stakhovsky won in St. Petersburg in 2009.
"I tried to focus and win every point I could. I think I managed to do that pretty well," Nieminen said.
"I don't have a good record in finals, but I don't think I've done anything wrong in the ones I've played," added the Finn, who has been a beaten finalist 10 times.
"Today I felt I had a really good chance to take the title as I had the game to do it. It's been many years since that first title and I had many finals after that, but I'm pretty good at believing in myself."
The only previous ATP title for the left-handed Nieminen, a beaten Sydney finalist in 2009, came in Auckland in 2006.
Persistent showers on Saturday had prevented any play between the unseeded Benneteau, still searching for his first title, and Nieminen, who has been ranked as high as 13th.
The Australian Open, the year's first grand slam, starts in Melbourne on Monday.
Forwards Waqas Sharif and Haseem Khan hit two goals each with Ali Shah netting once to lead Pakistan's fight-back after China dominated initial play with two goals by the 11th minute.
China struck in the third minute when striker Dong Yang scored off the first penalty corner, going under the feet of Pakistani goalkeeper Salman Akbar, who had a miserable match.
Liu Xiang Tang doubled the lead in the 11th minute when he sneaked past Pakistan's defence to score a field goal, much to the shock of Pakistan.
Awoken by their rivals' sudden surge, Pakistan struck three times within the next 14 minutes as Khan (14 and 28 minutes) and Waqas Sharif (23 minutes) put Pakistan ahead with 3-2.
Yang pulled one back in the 54th minute in a slick move from the forward line before Sharif ended the score with another field goal in the 56th minute.
Pakistan won the first match 3-0 on Wednesday in Karachi, in the first international hockey hosted by Pakistan in seven years.
The remaining two matches will be played in the cities of Faisalabad on Saturday and Lahore on Sunday.
Pakistan, who last hosted an international hockey game in 2004, hopes the Chinese tour will help convince other foreign teams to visit.
Misbah-ul-Haq's men, buoyant after a successful series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates, where they won in all three formats of the game, proved their mettle once again.
The tourists, playing their 50th Twenty20 match, fought back after being restricted to 135-7 to keep Bangladesh down to 85-9 on a slow wicket that hindered stroke-making.
Off-spinners Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez captured two wickets each while Umar Gul,Aizaz Cheema and Shahid Afridi took a wicket each.
The Tigers were in danger of falling below their lowest T20 total of 78 against New Zealand last year when they stumbled to 69-9 in the 17th over.
But Nasir Hossain hit a defiant unbeaten 35 with two boundaries and a six to ensure Bangladesh batted out their stipulated 20 overs.
The hosts were left to rue a lethargic batting display in which nine batsmen failed to reach double figures, while two ran themselves out.
The match was as good as over when Bangladesh lost half their side by the ninth over with the total at 23.
The batsmen undid the good work by the bowlers who kept the Pakistani batting in check after Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to take first strike.
Spinner Alok Kapali, the eighth bowler used by Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, picked up two for 12 and former skipper Shakib Al Hasan finished with two for 24.
Hafeez top-scored for Pakistan with 25, but found little support from the other end.
The victory capped a remarkable performance by Pakistan who won the preceding three-Test series 1-0 and the five-match one-day series 4-1.
Misbah, who hit three boundaries and a six off 38 balls, added 46 for the fourth wicket with Asad Shafiq (33) after Pakistan lost their way in persuit of the target.
They lost Mohammad Hafeez (13), Imran Farhat (13) and Umar Akmal for a first ball duck.
Shafiq hit three boundaries during his run-a-ball knock before he was bowled by Lasith Malinga.
Misbah hit Dilruwan Perera for a huge six and when 43 needed off the last four overs, the Pakistani captain hit three boundaries in Dilhara Fernando's 17th over of the innings.
When Pakistan needed 23 off the last two overs Afridi hit Fernando for two sixes over deep mid-wicket before the paceman had him caught behind.
Pakistan needed nine off the last over bowled by Malinga whose first ball saw two taken by Misbah but the ensuing throw went for four before Shoaib Malik knocked off the winning runs.
Earlier Cheema took 4-30 in a superb display of swing bowling to derail Sri Lanka who had looked set to put up a big total on the back of maiden Twenty20 half-century by Dinesh Chandimal.
Chandimal had looked threatening during his 44-ball 56, hitting six boundaries and added a firey 31 for the second wicket with skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (28) before Cheema came into his own.
Sri Lanka were off to a flying start of 30 by the third over before losing opener Upul Tharanga, bowled by Cheema for 12.
Dilshan miscued a drive off spinner Saeed Ajmal in the sixth over but Sri Lanka still had a ten run avergae by the sixth over.
Pakistani bowlers led by Cheema, playing only his second Tewnty20 match, checked Sri Lankan innings as they lost their last seven wickets for 54 runs.
Chandimal brought up his maiden half-century in the shortest form of the game off 40 balls before Cheema had him in the 19th over of the innings, trapped leg-before.
Cheema also had Thissara Perera (nought) and Malinga (one) to finish his four-over spell.
Sri Lanka's poor batting was not helped by two run outs of Angelo Mathews (14) and Chamara Silva (four). Umar Gul polished off the tail with 2-16.
Pakistan fly off to Dhaka on Saturday to play a Twenty20, three one-day internationals and two Tests. The Twenty20 will be played in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The event, being held in the northern state of Punjab, has brought 14 teams together from across the world to play the popular and highly physical South Asian game, which mixes tag with wrestling.
The “World Cup” — which is not officially recognised as there is no international governing body for the sport — has so far seen 29 players test positive for banned substances since it began on November 1.
Five Australians failed dope tests and two others refused to give urine samples, leaving the country unable to field a team for their match against Afghanistan on Saturday.
“Five of Australia’s players tested positive in anti-dope tests and two absconded maybe out of fear of facing such a test,” organising secretary Pargat Singh told AFP.
“Since eight players have to be on the ground, Australia failed to have a quorum at a group stage match yesterday and so have been disqualified. They are out of the tournament.”
Afghanistan were awarded the match in a walkover.
Kabaddi players from Canada, Britain, the United States, Norway, Spain and India have been among those to have failed drug tests.
US team member Manjinder Singh allegedly tried to substitute his urine samples with water and verbally abused National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) staff when he was caught, the Times of India reported.
“With so many players caught in (the) doping net, it will be set a good precedent for next year,” NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar told the Times.
“But at the same time it leaves many questions unanswered on the fair play in the tournament. Doping is nothing but cheating. I don’t know what organisers are going to do about it in this year’s event.”
Officials declined to identify the banned substances but press reports said some were for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.
Kabaddi involves an individual player raiding the opposition team’s territory while chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” until he runs out of breath.
His opponents, who generally hold hands, try to snare him and stop him from returning to his home base.
Group stages of the World Cup are due to be completed on Wednesday, with India among the favourites to win the finals at the Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana on November 20.
Arch-rivals Pakistan lodged a complaint last week after members of the US team — that they lost to 39-43 — gave positive tests.
The tournament is also running a women’s event involving four national sides.
The CIBS analyzed 2,089 cases and reported that around 96% of the cases were related to doping and 1.5% cases were about the misuse of insider information. Of 57 match-fixing cases that were investigated, 53% took place in Europe and 33% in Asia.
While the spot-fixing trial that saw three Pakistan cricketers jailed is a high-profile example of fixing in cricket, 70% of match-fixing cases occurred in football.
The report also revealed that betting-related match-fixing cases were 1.5 times more common than non-betting related match-fixing.
“From our research, it was apparent that doping is the dominant issue within sport,” principal researcher Samantha Gorse said.
The report included cases of three Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, who were banned by International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching its anti-corruption code early this year.
West Indies case of Marlon Samuels’ two-year ban in 2008 for passing on information to bookmakers, was put under the report category of misusing insider information.
“There is growing interest, and indeed concern, in issues of corruption in sport,” Professor Simon Chadwick of Coventry University said.
“Thus far however, there has been no systematic or structured review of corruption and so our study represents first of its kind. The study clearly sheds some light on nature, type and extent of corruption in sport. This enables us to more clearly identify where there are particular concerns and issues,” Chadwick said.
The seventh seed Indo-Pak pair eked out a 6-3, 7-6 win in the semifinals over the third seeded Belarusian-Canadian combination in one hour and 27 minutes.
On Friday, Indo-Pak express had shocked second seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the quarter-finals of the euro 2,750,000 event.
Now Aisam-Bopanna will face the winner of the other semifinals between French Pair of Julien Benneteau/ Nicolas Mahut and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Kas Christopher of Germany.
AFP adds: Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3 here on Saturday to reach the final of the Paris Masters for the first time in his career.
The 30-year-old Swiss holder of 16 Grand Slam titles will play on Sunday the winner of the other semi-final which sees 2008 winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France take on giant American John Isner.
A break of serve in the first game of each set was all the former world No.1 needed to see off the challenge of Berdych who beat second seed Andy Murray in a marathon quarter-final on Friday.
The day after chalking up the 800th match win of his career, Federer made a storming start against a player who had given him problems in the past.
He immediately had the big Czech on the defensive and clinched a first break of serve when a rasping cross-court forehand forced an error.
The third seed powered through his own serve and had a break point to go 3-0 up in the next game before Berdych finally started to find his range.
Federer though was comfortable on his own serve and took the first set 6-4 despite a double fault at 40-15 ahead in the 10th game.
Berdych stumbled again at the start of the second set handing Federer two break points by netting an easy-looking overhead smash and he then netted a routine forehand from the baseline.
Federer, who won just his second tournament of the year last week in his hometown of Basel, smoothly moved 2-0 up and he never looked like being caught from there on in.
Berdych saved a break point after double-faulting in the seventh game, but two games later Federer went 40-0 up and clinched the win when a demoralised Berdych netted a weak forehand. A win on Sunday would be just the second time that Federer has lifted a title in the French capital with his only triumph at Roland Garros in the French Open coming in 2009 when he beat Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the final.
It would also set him up perfectly for the season-ending ATP Tour finals in London which start the week after next.
"See you in Gold Coast in 2018!!!" the federation said on Twitter, following a vote of its general assembly in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis on Friday evening local time -- Saturday morning in Australia.
Gold Coast, a sub-tropical tourist hotspot that is home to more than 500,000 people, promised to provide a stark contrast with last year's host, India's teeming capital New Delhi.
The 2010 Delhi Games proved troubled, with the sporting headlines stolen by venue delays, shoddy construction and budget overruns that saw the cost of the event triple to US$6 billion.
Australia said hosting the Commonwealth Games for the fifth time, becoming the only nation to ever do so, would allow it to showcase its ability to host major international sporting events.
"This morning's victory was a fantastic result for the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia," Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and Sport Minister Mark Arbib said in a joint statement.
"It will provide a big boost to tourism and jobs on the Gold Coast, both in the lead up to the Games and during the event."
Australia has a long association with the Commonwealth Games, hosting the Games four times -- most recently in Melbourne in 2006.
The country's biggest city Sydney held the 2000 Olympics and the nation hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2003.
The government said it would be looking forward to a home advantage and repeating its most successful Games performance in Melbourne, where Australian participants won a record 221 medals.
"The Games attract thousands of athletes from around the Commonwealth, as well as tens of thousands of fans and a global television audience of well over one billion people," Swan and Arbib said in the statement.
"So hosting the Commonwealth games will be a great opportunity to showcase to a huge global audience all that the Gold Coast has to offer."
The Games bring together athletes from 71 Commonwealth countries and the 2014 event is to be held in Glasgow in Scotland.
Australia has hosted four previous Commonwealth Games: in Sydney (1938), Perth (1962), Brisbane (1982) and Melbourne (2006).
Gold Coast, one of the fastest growing regions in Australia, experiences some 287 days of sunshine each year and boasts 70 kilometres of beaches.
Former Test captain Salman Butt was on Thursday handed a 30-month prison term while Mohammad Asif got a year and Mohammad Amir six months for their roles in fixing the Lord’s Test against England last year.
The scandal rocked the cricket world and left Pakistan’s millions of loyal fans feeling betrayed in a country where the game is an obsession.
“It is really introspection time for Pakistan cricket,” said former captain Ramiz Raja. “We don’t need cricketers who sell their souls to the devil, but we need players who are good ambassadors and play for the honour.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) came down hard on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the wake of the scandal, directing them to take strict measures and warning that failure could lead to their suspension.
The PCB have shown willingness to clean up the sport but experts say Pakistan will face a tough time in the months and years ahead following the worst scandal since South African captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life in 2000.
Pakistan is also facing a huge challenge in bringing international cricket back to a country which has not hosted any top-drawer matches since militants attacked the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009.
Cronje’s former team-mate David Richardson, now ICC general manager cricket, said it was a tough period for the sport in South Africa after their match-fixing scandal.
“I was involved in a team whose captain was found guilty of match-fixing. Unfortunately, we were all tainted by his actions. If I went to a school’s match to watch my son play cricket, people used to shout to me asking which team my money was on,” Richardson told AFP.
Richardson said Pakistan should use all means to ensure their cricket is clean.
“The Pakistan team has to make sure that the perceptions of their cricket are clean. And this means all the good guys have to stick together and fight for that position,” said Richardson.
The former wicket-keeper batsman said he was confident Pakistan still have the talent to overcome their current woes.
“Pakistan’s cricket team still has in its ranks not only some wonderfully talented, but wonderfully ethical people. These good guys will need to stick together, back and support each other, and establish an environment in the dressing room which is healthy, honest and sporting,” Richardson said.
“Obviously they need to work closely with our anti-corruption and security unit and report any approaches or suspicious contacts at the earliest opportunity.”
Players such as Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and now-retired Shoaib Akhtar had made a reputation for themselves and rejected any approach to fix matches.
Under a cool and mellowed captain Misbah-ul Haq, the Pakistan team have shown great focus and have avoided any distraction.
The PCB have also shown more determination in dealing with the menace, chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed said, voicing hope that they can put the past behind them.
“I think we should ‘let the dead past bury its dead’ otherwise we will continue living in the past and will lose the sight into future. What has happened is truly eye opening and we must take lessons from it,” he said.
“We have put in place some stringent measures and are also looking at strengthening our codes. We are also contemplating on recommending to our government to pass legislations making corruption in sports a criminal offence,” Ahmed told .
Former Pakistan selector Iqbal Qasim called for extra vigilance.
“PCB faces a difficult time,” said Qasim. “We must select educated players and devise a system through which we can ascertain the character of a player, how he behaves with the limelight and with the huge money he earns,” said Qasim.
“These are difficult times, but I am sure we can come out of it.”
