Villain of the piece hobnobbed with sports stars

London: The alleged match-fixer at the centre of the scandal engulfing cricket has spent the past decade building up an image as a successful and well-connected businessman.

Mazhar Majid was well known in south London as the owner of his local football club as well as a property developer who invited politicians and sports stars to his events. He and his young family live in a £1.8-million (Dh10.2 million) home, where neighbours said he would host barbecues for hundreds of guests.

But hidden among his company directorships are thousands of pounds in unpaid bills and a string of firms that have closed down.

Majid, 35, attended Coulsdon High School and studied business at Middlesex University before forming Bluesky Developments with a friend, Faisal Hameed, in 1999. They began by renovating derelict houses in south London.

By 2007 the developers were being commended by council officers and business leaders in Croydon for their developments and were raising money for charities.

Later that year Bluesky hosted a fund-raising event attended by top cricketers such as the former Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq.

According to local newspaper reports, Bluesky was for a time the sponsor of Salman Butt, the current Pakistan captain. But Bluesky began to lose money in the recession and was wound down. Companies House records show it has five county court judgments for unpaid bills totalling £74,163 against it.