Lying or stupid - pressured either way

Now, Ijaz Butt, Pakistani cricket's boss claims that he had no proof of any wrongdoing by England's players and that he was merely passing on information he had heard from bookies. He said on Radio Five Live (an interview I have just been made aware of): "I have never said this. If you listen to the full tape of the NDTV interview, the bookies are saying this. I am not saying this."
Okay. Contrast that with "There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match [the third ODI]. No wonder there was such a collapse... Did you ask the other people who made allegations against our players whether they had any proof? What did they say? We have thought about this properly and we have positive proofs here before us just like they say they have also."
Hmm.
Contradicting yourself doesn't look too smart. I read though that he is a political appointee (not something that bodes well in itself), so it might be that he is a puppet swinging in the wind at the whim of higher-up masters, which still means he is a liar with no right to make slurs against English players without evidence. If politicians are ordering Butt to lash out, it is a worry for the whole world, not just the cicketing one. Resentful countries, even if their misery is of their own making, are often the biggest trouble-makers on a wider stage. Humility sometimes can be the hardest action.