Pak team sponsor cancels deal with scandal-hit Aamer

Islamabad, Sep 2: Sporting equipment manufacturer BoomBoom has suspended its relationship with ‘spot-fixing’ scandal-hit Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Aamer.

BoomBoom, which has individual branding agreements with several Pakistan players including Aamer, said that the move was necessary to protect the company’s image.

“Like everyone else in the cricket world, we are truly saddened and shocked by these allegations. I sincerely hope they are not true,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ali Ehsan, BoomBoom Managing Director, as saying in a statement.

“However, we are huge cricket lovers: pure and simple. We believe in, and encourage players to have, the freedom to play, fairly. We cannot allow our brand to be associated with any whiff of corruption or suspicion of foul play.”

“While the suspension of our commercial involvement with Mohammad Aamer is not a step we take lightly, we nevertheless feel that it is the right thing to do while a judicial process unfolds and innocence or guilt is established,” he added.

Ehsan also stressed that the company will review its two-year deal with the team.

“BoomBoom is also reviewing its position as official kit supplier to the Pakistan Cricket Board,” he said.

The Pakistan team is in the midst of a betting scam, where Amir and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif are alleged to have bowled pre-arranged no-balls in the Lord’s Test, which England won by an innings and 225 runs.

According to The News of the World, they were part of a 150,000-pound betting scam with London-based agent Mazhar Majeed.