ICC World Cup 2011: ICC investigates Salman Butt TV deal
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt’s deal with a Pakistani channel as a cricket expert during the ICC World Cup 2011 has annoyed the International Cricket Council and the apex body is investigating whether it breaches his terms of suspension or not.
This was confirmed by the ICC chief executive, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719 who was talking to the media after the ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai.
“We are not satisfied with this appointment,” said Lorgat. “And we have written to tribunal chairman Michael Beloff QC to enquire whether this could be viewed as a breach against the terms of his suspended sentence.”
The former Test captain of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, together with new-ball pair of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, was banned from all formats of cricket by an independent anti-corruption tribunal of the ICC in February 2011 after being found guilty of spot-fixing.
Amir, the youngest of all, was banned for 5 years while Butt and Asif were banned for 10 and 7 years respectively. Butt’s ban includes five years as suspended while Asif was given a two-year suspension provided he did not commit any further breach of the
code.
The banned trio holds the right of challenging the tribunal’s judgment with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Geneva within 21 days of the announcement of the verdict.
None of the three players has so far filed an appeal with the CAS. However, the 26-year-old discarded batsman has since signed a contract with a Pakistani channel to appear as a TV expert during the forthcoming mega event.
Butt, after signing the deal with the channel, had said that he did not find any reason for objection from the Pakistan Cricket Board or ICC to the new role. He said that since he was not playing in the event, he wanted to do something related to the tournament.
But the ICC did object after discussing the issue at its latest Executive Board meeting in Dubai. A statement from Lorgat after the meeting read, “The Board, having a zero tolerance attitude towards corruption, expressed disappointment at the decision by
a minor Pakistan television channel, which has no relationship with the ICC, to employ the suspended Mr Salman Butt as a studio pundit during the World Cup.”
The ICC is trying its level best to ensure that the tournament remains corruption-free and this latest move is another step in that direction.
The latest edition of the quadrennial tournament gets underway on Saturday, 19 February, 2011 when co-hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
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