LAHORE Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed, who reportedly accused his team-mates of fixing almost every match, has said he was only repeating allegations he read in the newspapers. Hameed said he was approached by a man he believed was offering him a sponsorship deal and did not know the conversation was being recorded. In a statement read out at the Pakistan High Commission in central London, a spokesman said Hameed was approached when he was having dinner at the Holiday Inn in Nottingham on the evening of August 30. The man offered to arrange a sponsorship deal. It was only later that Hameed discovered the man was the News of the Worlds Mazher Mahmood. Naturally, I was interested in what he had to say and we began a conversation, the statement said. He offered me at least 50,000 for the deal, he added. He said he was asked for the names of four more players who may be interested in a similar deal and then asked about the match-fixing allegations. As I saw him as a friend and a potential agent I naively started to answer his questions, he said. As far as I recall, I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about the matter, he said. Hameed said he was unaware of the hidden camera. He said two days later the man called him and offered 25,000 to give a statement against the three players under investigation. He said he refused and put the phone down. Hameed said he later received a text from the man, which read: Please call me. Incidentally you are in video drinking wine and saying all the quotes. Denying it is just stupid and we will be releasing the video to TV. Better that you just stand up and speak the truth. He said he decided not to respond and told the Pakistan Cricket Board about what had happened. The spokesman did not respond to questions over whether he would take legal action over the reports. The statement was read out by PCB legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi, after which Hameed was driven off. He had spent several hours in the High Commission giving his version of events to officials. Skipper Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have been suspended following last weekends allegations in the News of the World and are the subject of police and International Cricket Council investigations. All three deny any wrongdoing. Hameed said his own encounter with the newspaper was largely inaccurately reported. The newspaper reported the Test batsman, who played in the fourth Test at Lords, as saying: Theyve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages. It makes me angry because Im doing my best and they are trying to lose.