Lucknow, July 18: A sex scandal has hit the cricket fraternity. This comes after an Uttar Pradesh cricketer accused Mohammad Akram Saifi, the assistant of Indian Premier League Chairman Rajiv Shukla, of seeking sexual favours in turn for selection. The cricketer, Rahul Sharma, has alleged that Akram asked players to arrange for prostitutes in return for selection in the Uttar Pradesh State Cricket Board.

A sting operation by a Hindi news channel News1 revealed that Akram asked Sharma to pay in "Cash or Kind" for selection. The sting operation ran an audio clip of a conversation between the two when Akram was heard telling Sharma to send women to a 5-star hotel. Akram was further heard telling Sharma that once the work is done, he would be selected in the state cricket team.

Video of News1 sting operation

Akram has refuted the allegations against him. . “The boy says he sent a girl to me. If his allegations are true, then he should have played cricket, right? Did he? No. His allegation would have been proven had he played for UP,” Akram told Indian Express.

“The truth will come out soon, I’m associated with such a big man (Shukla) so it’s natural that people will attack me from all corners. This is done by dissatisfied people, including those close to me. It is a well planned game. There is a group of some 15-odd people who were involved in this," he added

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 04:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).