ICC spot-fixing judgement details not to be made public
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer received the full written version of the judgement, made by ICC’s independent tribunal. There is still some ambiguity regarding the details of the judgement being made public. ICC on one hand is keen on publishing the details, but there are some complications as UK’s Crown Prosecution Service had also pressed charges against the three cricketers a day before the ICC verdict.
Salman Butt was handed a ban for 10 years, Muhammad Asif got 7 years and Muhammad Aamer got a 5 year ban. Michael Beloff, was the man leading the independent tribunal following the match fixing charges, put on the three Pakistani cricketers. Asif and Aamer were accused of bowling deliberate no balls on the instructions of Captain Salman Butt. In return, the trio had received a handsome amount of money. Muhammad Aamer has said that he would be appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sports against the decision, while Salman Butt has also said that he does not agree with the verdict of the tribunal.
Earlier on Saturday there was a statement released by Michael Beloff and other two tribunal members Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao. They had asked the ICC to publish the details of the verdict, and also to make public the evidences that led to the cricketer’s being charged with severe bans.
The severity of the bans has attracted support in most corners, while there are others who are not in total agreement. The tribunal had also asked ICC to revisit the anti corruption code, to make amendments in minimum sentence for exceptional circumstances.
On this statement Mumammad Aamer and Salman Butt have said that, tribunal was looking to hand them smaller bans but they were bound by the ICC code. Now the possibility of an appeal would rely on the details of the case being made public.
However, it is still not clear if general public would get to see the details of the case that ended in severe bans for the three Pakistani cricketers. Because on the 4th of February CPS had pressed charges against Salman, Asif and Aamer and along with their agent http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed they are asked to appear in court. All four of them are charged with criminal offense of accepting corrupt payments.
The first hearing of the case will be held at Westminster Magistrate's court on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 17.
International Cricket Council has shown its willingness to publish the documents, but are currently in consultation with Jonathon Caplin QC - a media law specialist. As CPS has advised ICC that they need to be careful in handling the evidences and details of the Spot Fixing case, as they may have an effect.
The incident took place in the 4th test match between Pakistan and England at Lords in August 2010. News Of the World, a tabloid in UK revealed that they have hidden camera footage and audio recordings of Mazhar Majeed, who acts as player agent,but is a bookie and he received money on the player’s behalf.
Majeed also assured the other party that Asif and Aamer would bowl no balls on the 3rd day, in specific overs. That is exactly how it happened and as a result ICC suspended the three players until further investigation. The hearing for the Spot Fixing case was held in Doha from 6th to 11th of January, and the final verdict was given by the independent tribunal of ICC on Saturday 5th of February.
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