Islamabad/London: Mohammad Asif, one of the cricketers at the centre of the match fixing scandal, is considering claiming political asylum in Britain to avoid returning to a potentially violent reception in Pakistan.
The bowler had a 35-minute meeting with an immigration lawyer last Friday and said he feared the allegations of fixing certain events in a recent Test match against England could make him the target of dangerous criminal gangs linked to the illegal betting underworld.
The cricketer is said to have asked the lawyer if there was a way to stay in Britain and discussed the asylum process.
The news will cause consternation among cricket authorities, who are engulfed in one of the worst crises the sport has faced.
Awaiting results
There will also be anger in Pakistan where the players have been pilloried by the public and media. Asif suggested he would await the results of investigations by Scotland Yard and the International Cricket Council, to which he expressed his innocence, before taking any asylum claim further.
The criminal charges carry a potential jail term and the ICC could ban him for life from the sport.
Immigration experts said Asif could present a viable case if he were able to prove his life was in danger and that the Pakistan authorities were unable or unwilling to protect him.
The 27 year-old fast bowler asked an intermediary to arrange a meeting with the lawyer from the London firm Malik and Malik last week.
The meeting apparently took place in a Pakistani restaurant in Southall last Friday.
"He didn't say anything about asylum at first," said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He just said, ‘What's the way to stay?'
Then we told him there's the student way — you can come here to study — or you can apply for a work permit. But then he asked about asylum."
Asif was said to have looked "very anxious" and was accompanied by an unidentified older man. "I think he's just worried about the backlash at home, that's what he told me," the solicitor said.
"There's been a lot of talk and there are undercover betting mafias with a lot of power — that seemed to be what he was worried about."
The cricketer left with a copy of a leaflet giving advice on British immigration law.
"If he wants to go forward then we will see what we can do for him," the solicitor said. It is rare for Pakistanis to be granted asylum. In 2009, only 65 were given shelter in Britain, Home Office figures show.
Persecution fear
One immigration lawyer, who did not wish to be named, said Asif could apply for refugee status if he first proved "a well-founded fear of being persecuted" by a gang who were out to cause him harm. He would then have to argue that the Pakistan state would not protect him.
