Cricket special report: Salman Butt files appeal against ban
Pakistan’s suspended test captain Salman Butt has approached the International Cricket Council and has apprised them of his desire to file an appeal against the provisional suspension that was handed out to him along with Mohammad
Asif and Mohammad Amir for the trio’s alleged involvement in the spot fixing scandal.
The scandal rocked the cricketing world during the fourth test of the Pakistan-England series at Lords.
The three players had as many as 23 charges levelled against them by the ICC and were subsequently suspended as the Anti Corruption and Security Unit of the body investigated the case that has been a source of real embarrassment
for Pakistan cricket.
The ICC made the announcement via a press release which stated that the Chief Executive of the body Haroon Lorgat has taken notice of the appeal and has asked the relevant department to proceed with the case immediately.
Here are the contents of the statement:
The ICC has been formally notified by Pakistan player Salman Butt that he wishes to appeal against the provisional suspension imposed on him under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
He was charged with various offences under the code on 2 September 2010.
The imposition of the provisional suspension followed an investigation by the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit into ‘spot-fixing’ allegations.
Under the terms of the code the ICC Code of Conduct Commission chairman Michael Beloff QC, will determine the issue of whether the provisional suspension should remain in place until the substantive hearing on the charges.
ICC Chief Executive http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719 said: “The ICC Anti-Corruption Code provides the opportunity for the players to appeal against the imposition of the provisional suspension and the ICC shall convene an independent hearing as quickly
and as efficiently as possible. In the meantime the player remains provisionally suspended from all cricket.”
The ICC has received no such appeal from the two other Pakistan players who are also currently suspended as part of the same investigation.
At the end of the press release the governing body of the game confirmed that it has not received any appeals from the other two players involved in the scandal.
Initially rumours floated in the Pakistani media that the trio had filed the appeal together yet a few hours later it was revealed that the ICC has received notification only from Salman Butt.
It is not clear yet if the other two players are going to file appeals against their suspensions or not as they remain very low profile and hardly interact with the media since the controversy erupted last month.
On the other hand the PCB media department kept themselves away from the matter reiterating that it was the players’ decision and only they could comment on it.
The beleaguered PCB is undergoing a transitory phase as it becomes clearer every passing day that a change is in the offing at the helm of the body.
The current Chairman Ijaz Butt’s popularity is at an all time low, albeit he has been an unpopular choice from the outset.
He has been accused from all quarters for being on a destructive mission that has seen Pakistan cricket being left in a corner and in isolation due to his failed diplomatic campaigns.
However the former test cricketer refused to relent and has embarked upon a potentially make or break tour of the United Kingdom where he would attempt to convey his point of view to the English Cricket Board, after the English
players sent him a letter seeking his apology over match fixing allegations that were levelled by Butt.
Butt has been accompanied by his legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi; it remains to be seen what the duo musters in a country that is fast turning its back towards http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
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