Hearing date set for Pakistan’s tainted trio
The ICC has set a date to hear spot-fixing charges against Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.
The full hearing is due to take place from January 6th to 11th in Doha, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Qatar-c2986.
The three-person Anti-Corruption Tribunal that will hear the case is to be comprised of Chair of the ICC's Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff QC, as well as two other Code of Conduct Commissioners - Justice Albie Sachs from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752.
The trio of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 players were charged under the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code on September 2nd and have been provisionally suspended since that date. The charges followed allegations made by British tabloid the News of the World that a group of Pakistan players had been involved in spot-fixing involving delivering no-balls at predetermined points in their Test against England at Lord’s in late August.
Butt and Amir had appealed their provisional bans, but their appeals were dismissed at a hearing on October 31st.
Following the unsuccessful appeals by Pakistan’s former Test captain and the teenage paceman, the Pakistan Cricket Board suspended the central contracts of all three players.
However the timing of the hearing means should any or all of the three be found innocent of the charges, they may still have the chance to return to the Pakistan squad in time for next year’s World Cup on the subcontinent, which begins in February.
Should Butt, Amir or Asif be found guilty of the charges though, each faces the prospect of being banned from cricket for life.
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