Cricket:British prosecutors have charged former Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and opening bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir with taking bribes to fix incidents in the fourth test against England at Lord's last year.
The trio are accused of arranging incidents, such as bowling no-balls at pre-agreed times, during the match. All three, along with 35-year-old sports agent Mazhar Majeed, have been charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and with conspiracy to cheat.
Majeed will appear before a magistrates’ court in London on March 17th. Summonses for the three players have been issued for the same date.
Accepting corrupt payments is a criminal offence in Britain and carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Cheating carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
Butt, Asif and Aamer were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board but denied wrongdoing. Riaz was not suspended. The ICC’s code of conduct commission rejected appeals by Butt and Aamer against their suspensions last November.
A three-man tribunal, which met for six days in January, will announce their decision on whether the players will face sanctions in Doha tomorrow.
The timing and severity of the decision comes at a crucial time as the World Cup begins in a fortnight in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The world governing body’s code of conduct carries a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved. The maximum punishment is a lifetime ban.