A former Pakistani pacer who was banned for life on the recommendation of Justice Qayyum Commission in 2000, broke into tears while talking about his ban.
“I was made a scapegoat by the commission for speaking the truth,” Rehman told SAMAA in a telephonic interview from London, where he runs a taxi.
“I am driving a taxi in London despite the fact I was blessed with cricketing talent by the Almighty,” he said.
In 1998, Ata-ur-Rehman claimed that Wasim Akram had paid him 100,000 Pakistani rupees to bowl badly in a one-day match held at Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 1994.
At Justice Malik Qayyum's Commission into match-fixing, Ata-ur-Rehman initially denied that he had made the allegations against Wasim Akram. However, when the statement was produced he changed his story and in camera confirmed the affidavit he had previously given.
“Speaking the truth is equal to hanging yourself to death,” he said.
Rehman said that he would expose all cricketers during a special TV interview.
“Why wasn’t Inzamam ul Haq banned? I was banned for changing my statement,” he said.
“I was given justice by the International Cricket Council, not by Pakistani courts,” he lamented.
