Salman Butt wants a London ice-cream parlour to prove his innocence
With less than a month to go in the make-or-break ICC hearing to decide the fate of the suspended Pakistan trio, Salman Butt, the former captain has said that an ice-cream parlour in Tooting (south London) can prove he is innocent and
the money discovered from his room was ‘clean’.
Butt insisted that a major portion of the thousands of pounds discovered in his hotel room during the teams England tour came from the opening of an ice-cream parlour in Tooting and said that the parlour people could help him out of spot-fixing
allegations embroiling the Pakistan cricket team over the past few months.
“...2,500 pounds was given to me for the opening of an ice cream parlour in Tooting (south London),” said the suspended Pakistan opener. “I believe the name is Afters
and the manager, the people working over there, they will tell you that I had to do the opening of the ice cream parlour along with Mohammad Amir. And that's what we were paid for," he said.
A large amount of money was discovered in the London hotel rooms of three Pakistani players after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yards conducted a sting operation following denunciation from a British tabloid. News of the World blew that few Pakistan player
were involved in bribery during their tour of England. The trio was alleged of contriving some deliberate no balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August.
This led to the suspension of three Pakistan players - the then Test captain Salman Butt, Mohamad Amir and Mohammad Asif – by the International Cricket Council after investigations were carried out by its Anti-corruption and Security Unit.
Besides the parlour opening, Butt reiterated that the discovered money - 29,000 pounds according to sources - also contained the daily tour allowances and the sponsorship earnings. The explanation from the suspended player is part of his
defence ahead of the final disciplinary hearing in Doha, Qatra earlier next month.
"Everybody knows the PCB pays us daily allowances on tours and it was a long tour, so about 11,000 pounds of this money was from my daily allowances," said Butt who could captain the side for a period of less than two months before he
was implicated in the spot-fixing scandal. "Being captain I have extra entertainment allowance which amounts to about 4,500 pounds from the tour - which I had with me," the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 opener detailed.
He said the rest of the amount was advance payment for his bat stickers of Capital Cricket, and the back of his bat proves that he is under contract with the company.
Butt remained adamant that the money was ‘clean', saying that people can have their own opinion about the cash but he knows where it has actually come from.
The three-member ICC tribunal hearing is scheduled to take place on January the 6th next year in Doha.
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