Ehsan Mani says the spot-fixing comments from Lorgat were inappropriate
Ehsan Mani, the former Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council from Pakistan feels that the statement of the ICC’s incumbent CEO, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719, that he would be disappointed if the suspended trio
of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 alleged for being involved in spot-fixing are not proven guilty, was inappropriate as the case was yet to be heard by the ICC tribunal.
Lorgat on Saturday said,
"We've worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand. I'm confident that our guys have worked very hard in ensuring they have got a case they can present which should
stand the test of scrutiny," adding that he would be disappointed if they are not proven guilty.
But Mani said the statement from Lorgat was not necessary as the case was yet to be heard by a three-member ICC Code of Conduct tribunal.
"The three-member ICC tribunal will hold the hearing next month, therefore Lorgat should not have said anything on the issue, his (Lorgat's) remarks were inappropriate.” The former ICC CEO said that he would surely
have taken an action against Lorgat for his remarks had he been ICC President – the post currently held by Indian Sharad Pawar.
The biased statement from the governing body’s Chief Executive Officer has also disturbed the lawyers of the suspended trio - Test Captain Salman Butt and the new ball pair Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir.
All the three players were suspended by the International Cricket Council on September 2, earlier this year following the British tabloid’s The News of the World’s claims that the pacer duo was paid by a bookmaker
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed, to deliberately ball no-balls in the Lord’s Test. The initial appeals filed by Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir were turned down by the head of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff after a two day hearing at the ICC headquarters
in Dubai, earlier last month. The trio will now attend a final hearing scheduled from January 6-11 in Doha, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Qatar-c2986 where the three-member tribunal will decide the fate of the players.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ehsan-Mani-c55791, who had been ICC CEO from 2003 to 2006, once again bashed the Pakistan Cricket Board for not supporting the trio. He said that the way the board has given a cold shoulder to the alleged trio was quite
surprising. Mani feels that the Pakistan Cricket Board should have stood by its players until the charges leveled against them were proven.
The legal advisor of the PCB, Tafazzul Rizvi, on the other hand has supported Lorgat’s statement as he said, being an ICC Chief Executive, Lorgat has every right to say such stuff.
"One must not forget that he is also the ICC Chief Executive and the ICC is the party pressing the charges against the player in this case, so Lorgat has every right to say he would be disappointed if the players
were not found guilty," said Rizvi.
Rizvi also made it clear that the board has nothing to do with the case as the players were charged individually by the ICC so they would have to respond individually and must not expect any favour or support from
the board. Earlier the Pakistan Cricket Board had also terminated its contracts with the tainted trio and banned them from using national properties for game practice.
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