The sentences are very light given the bad name the three brought to their country.
LONDON: I am very disappointed at the significantly light jail terms that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were given by a British judge on November 3. The sentences are very light given the bad name the three brought to their country and their fans who gave them so much love and respect. And it was mainly because of their public adulation that they were able to earn large amounts of money through various commercial endorsements.
Now, these three have earned for Pakistan the dubious honour of being the only cricket-playing country in the world whose cricketers were convicted and jailed for spot-fixing. Equally regrettable is the fact that someone like Asif, who has had allegations of being involved in corrupt practices in the past, was given a relatively light sentence.
One can only hope that the International Cricket Council will not lift its ban on these players once they are released from prison. Also, the Pakistan Cricket Board will have to keep a close watch on them to ensure that they do not earn any income from the sport, at any level, not even through commentary.
Abdul Rahman Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2011.
