- The investigation team now go after the ex-Pakistan cricketer who was banned for spot-fixing, thinking he can lead them to other potentially corrupt players.
- They pose as potential sponsors of a fictitious Singapore tournament who are looking to recruit players.
In 2012, the BBC’s Panorama team, together with a private production company, embarked on a project to uncover corruption in cricket. The trail took them to India, where a man who goes by the name of Aneel Munawar said he had the ability to organise spot-fixing in matches, where the run rate can be doctored over a specified number of overs.
The Panorama investigation subsequently fizzled out and the production company then joined forces with a major UK broadsheet newspaper, which tried to organise a sting on an England player of Asian background.
When that failed, the team turned their attention to a player who had already been banned in the wake of a spot-fixing scandal in the hope that he would help recruit other cricketers. That also ended in tears.
In the third and final part of the series, we look at how Pakistani Danish Kaneria thought he found a way back into cricket after being handed a lifetime ban, only to discover he had been duped.
Danish Kaneria was serving a life ban for corruption in cricket. He was arrested on May 10, 2010 because of “irregularities” during a NatWest Pro40 League match in September 2009.
Although he was later cleared by police, the former Pakistan player was named in court during the spot-fixing trial of Essex teammate Mervyn Westfield as being the player who approached the English cricketer and suggested the fix.
Westfield was convicted in January 2012 and given a four-month jail sentence while Kaneria was later banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Kaneria’s own governing body in Pakistan endorsed the English ban, effectively ending his career.
Kaneria, though, had been trying to get back into cricket at any level ever since. And it was this desire that the London-based TV production company (TVPC) and newspaper group – with the BBC providing ancillary support – were hoping to exploit in their bid to uncover match-fixing in cricket.
After years of denying guilt, Kaneria, in October 2018, admitted in a televised interview with David Harrison of Al Jazeera to his involvement in the 2009 spot-fixing scandal. Before that, though, he was trying to put his life back together and earn an income to support his family.
The team was hoping he was desperate enough to name and co-opt other cricketers. The plan was to fly Kaneria to Dubai and offer him a job as a consultant for a fictitious tournament in Singapore with the ex-Pakistani international responsible for recruiting players.
The operation was led by the editor of the newspaper’s investigation team, who posed as the head of a sports management company. This “company” was working with imaginary firm Magellan Investments that would act as sponsor of the Singapore tournament. The real Magellan is one of Australia’s largest financial services companies and former lead sponsor of the Ashes series.
The “head” of the sports management firm – who was Kaneria’s main contact – was supposedly based in Singapore and London and did not travel to Dubai.
Three people were sent to Dubai to meet Kaneria; operatives “Mohammed Akhtar” and his assistant “Billy” were representing Magellan, while support staff “Tommy” handled logistics. Mohammed was to negotiate with Kaneria while Tommy would stay hidden because he had previously spoken to the former cricketer on the phone as a journalist and he feared Kaneria may recognise his voice.
Kaneria was naively thrilled. It presented an opportunity to earn a decent income for the first time in many years. He was not to know, of course, that it was merely a ruse to find out which players Kaneria had access to and whether or not these players would be willing to play ball.
The investigation team paid for his return flight and hotel accommodation in Dubai. The team would stay in a different hotel.
Kaneria was to hold two meetings with Mohammed. The first was to directly ask Kaneria if he knew of players who were willing to play to their rules. The second meeting would be to hear his answer. The meetings would be audio recorded.
What followed was a comedic Keystone Cops-style series of events that the TVPC and newspaper crew were unprepared for, causing panic in the ranks and ultimately leading to a frantic escape from Dubai.
The problems began as soon as Kaneria tried to check in at the hotel in Dubai. He couldn’t. The hotel required a security deposit and Kaneria, long struggling to make ends meet, had no money or credit cards with him.
He texted the editor (sports marketing company head) saying he was unable to check into his room.
The editor contacted Tommy asking him to pay the deposit in cash, because any use of credit card would leave a paper trail leading back to the TVPC. Tommy, however, did not want bump into Kaneria so they came up with a story to make the cricketer walk away from the reception area so he could rush in, hand over the cash and leave as quickly as he entered.
It worked but Kaneria was already starting to harbour suspicions. The first meeting took place as scheduled between Mohammed and Kaneria. Mohammed provided the Pakistani with details of the tournament and eventually told him: “We need every player to play according to our script. We need players who will follow us and bat and bowl as we say.”
Kaneria was taken aback, raised an eyebrow and did not know what to say, except: “Let me think about it.”
Kaneria was already banned and, at the time, had continued to deny the 2009 spot-fixing incident. His ambition was to play cricket again. Another match-fixing scandal would destroy those hopes and might even land him in jail.
It was at this point he suspected it might be a set-up. He called a friend in India, who urged him to ask Mohammed for his passport to confirm his identity. Kaneria followed his friend’s suggestion when he met Mohammed again. “I just want to make sure you are who you say you are,” Kaneria said to him.
The blood drained from Mohammed’s face. He said he would return with the passport. He rushed back to his hotel, where Tommy was waiting. Panic set in. They needed an exit plan.
They knew Kaneria suspected something was wrong. Mohammed called him and said he had an urgent meeting in New York and had to leave immediately. Tommy was equally terrified. They thought Kaneria may have connections to the underworld in Dubai and feared retaliation.
They felt they had no choice but to flee Dubai. They rushed downstairs, checked out of their rooms, hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Dubai airport. The trap they had set for Kaneria fell apart and they simply wanted to get out of there and leave this nightmare behind.
Once in the cab, Tommy felt relief. In a few hours he would be on a plane back home to England. Just then, he received a call from his editor – the “head” of the company wanting to hire Kaneria.
The cricketer had called in panic. He wanted to check out but his sundry spending had exceeded that of the deposit and he had yet to receive the US$700 a day he asked for as consultant fees.
The hotel refused to let him leave until he settled the bill, which included a generous helping of mini-bar items, lavish meals and spa sessions charged to the room.
So Tommy asked the taxi driver to make a detour to Kaneria’s hotel. They created another diversion for Kaneria, allowing Tommy to run inside, settle the hotel bill and scurry out before embarking on another tension-filled ride to the airport.
“It was quite comical,” said a source who was close to the investigation but prefers to remain anonymous because of continuing undercover work involving sports corruption. “Their argument was that he’s banned so he must be corrupt.
“They spent a lot of money trying to show corruption among Asian cricketers, but at the same time they were sitting on evidence that implicated white players at the highest levels of the game.
“The team performed an analysis of the matches mentioned in the recordings with Munawar and came to the conclusion that they were fixed.”
The team had fallen flat on their faces with their Asian player plan and Kaneria. Munawar, however, would eventually be exposed by the Al Jazeera’s Investigations team fronted by Harrison.
Al Jazeera started their Munawar investigation in 2016 and finally broadcast a two-part documentary in 2018, in which Munawar boasted about his ability to fix matches.
Al Jazeera later hit out at the English media for what they believed was a bias against Asian players and their refusal to pursue strong evidence against “Anglo-Saxon” players.
In a statement last year, the broadcaster said: “We are particularly struck by what appears to be a refusal in some quarters even to accept the possibility that players from Anglo-Saxon countries could have engaged in the activities exposed by our programme and that the evidence we have uncovered even merits appropriate investigation.”
Al Jazeera has handed over its evidence to Interpol. According to the source, the BBC has yet to provide its own evidence to world governing body ICC nor any other authority.
