Pakistani cricketer Haider Ali has been cleared of rape allegations in the UK after police and prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
The Greater Manchester Police and Crown Prosecution Service formally closed the investigation, allowing Ali, 24, to retrieve his passport and resume international travel. He had been arrested on August 4 at the Spitfire County Ground in Kent after a British-Pakistani woman accused him of assault at a Manchester hotel on July 23. She claimed to have met him again in Ashford on August 1 and filed her complaint four days later.
Ali consistently denied the allegations, saying the woman was a personal acquaintance and that the accusations were false. Represented by Barrister Moeen Khan, he described the case as “shocking” and “baseless.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board had provisionally suspended him during the investigation, in line with its code of conduct. Having made his debut in 2020, Ali has played 35 T20 internationals and two ODIs, scoring 499 runs in T20s. With the case now dismissed, he will be free to resume his cricketing career.
