ICC appoints Tribunal to hear suspended trio’s case
The wait is nearly over for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif; the three Pakistani players that were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the fourth and final Test match of the recently concluded tour of England.
The trio will have their future determined by an independent Anti-Corruption tribunal that will be headed by the Chief of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission Michael Beloff.
A formal announcement was made by the governing body of the game via a press release, the release states the following:
“The ICC can confirm that, during a telephone hearing earlier today, the Chair of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, Mr. Michael Beloff QC, formally appointed an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal to determine the alleged breaches of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code by three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.”
The three-person tribunal will be made up of Mr Beloff QC (as Chair), together with two other Code of Conduct Commissioners - Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Sharad Rao from Kenya – according to the procedure described in the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code. During the telephone hearing it was also agreed that the full hearing would be scheduled to take place from 6-11 January, 2011 in Doha, Qatar.
The press release also adds that “The three players were charged under Article two of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code on 2 September, 2010 and have been provisionally suspended since then. Two players – Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir – had an appeal against that provisional suspension dismissed on 31 October, 2010. All three players remain suspended from all cricketing activities”.
The Pakistani trio has been kept away from the game after the match-fixing and spot-fixing scandal broke during the Lords Test match that the tourists lost.
A sting operation by The News of the World claimed that the three players had spot-fixed three no-balls on day one and day two of the Test match in exchange for financial rewards.
Interestingly the left-arm teenage sensation Mohammad Amir was in the middle of a dream spell when he allegedly bowled the no-balls.
He claimed his career best 6-wicket haul, that rocked the English team in overcast conditions, yet the match was overshadowed by the scandal that was broken by the newspaper on day three of the Lord’s Test.
The Pakistanis’ had already capitulated by then and surrendered the match meekly.
Subsequently the trio was suspended by the ICC on 2 September, 2010 after the PCB refused to sideline them from the squad that stayed in England for more than four months.
Meanwhile the suspension of the players was upheld after a two-day hearing on 30 and 31 October in Dubai, the hearing was conducted by Michael Beloff and left Amir, Salman Butt and their lawyers infuriated as they believed the ICC had no reason to uphold the suspension since they did not have solid evidence against the players.
The infuriated players then came out all guns blazing in the Pakistani media. They even accused the ICC of having a bias against their country with Salman in particular laying into the governing body of the game.
He said in a series of interviews with some of the leading Television channels in the country that the governing body of the game was conspiring against Pakistan and that was the reason for their suspension on unfounded allegations.
It remains to be seen as to what kind of an impact their outspoken views have on the outcome of the spot fixing case, many legal experts feel that the ICC might pounce on the players and make them accountable for their candid views on a sub-judice matter.
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