Pakistan has abandoned its inquiry into allegations of matchfixing during the 1999 World Cup. After five months of investigation involving 20 witnesses, Justice Karamat Bhandari's one-man commission has been unable to substantiate claims of impropriety during the group stages of the tournament. The claims were first levelled by South Africa's cricket chief Ali Bacher, who is director of the 2003 World Cup.

The matches in question - Pakistan's defeats by India and Bangladesh in June 1999 - attracted suspicion at the time, but the failure of Bacher to give evidence effectively sank the investigation. The report as it stands will be submitted to the ICC at their annual meeting at June.

Wasim Akram, who was fined in connection with matchfixing by Justice Qayyum's original inquiry in 1998-99, was Pakistan's captain in the World Cup. He appeared before the commission in December, but attributed the defeats to poor cricket, demanding that whose who had pointed the finger be taken to task. Four other members of the World Cup squad, plus the then manager Zafar Altaf also denied the allegations.

But several prominent former players backed the claims, including former captain Majid Khan and fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz. "All the events leading up to the Pakistan-Bangladesh match prove matchfixing took place," said Majid.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd