Sport

Pakistani cricketers banned from Facebook, Twitter

05:46 am on 16 December 2010

Pakistan have banned their cricketers from the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter following a series of damaging scandals.

Team manager Intikhab Alam said the decision was taken after wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider used Facebook to announce his retirement, having fled to London from Dubai last month concerned for his safety after being pressured to fix matches.

Haider has also threatened to name and shame on Facebook Pakistani teammates allegedly involved in match-fixing.

Pakistani players have clauses in their contracts precluding them from discussing cricket on websites like Facebook and Twitter.