Banned trio to receive full report today

ICC yet to decide whether to make findings public.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast-bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will receive a full written judgement on their spot-fixing verdict today, according to ESPNcricinfo.

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) three-man independent tribunal announced sanctions for the under-fire trio whose details will be handed over to them. However, it is still not clear whether the detailed report of their complete verdicts will be made public immediately or not.

Salman was handed a 10-year ban, including five years probationary suspension; Asif a seven-year ban, including two years of probationary suspension; and Amir a five-year ban from all cricketing activities. The ICC is reportedly keen on publishing the detailed accounts of the corruption verdicts the very same day. However, with Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) decision to press charges against the three players, the ICC might reconsider.

According to the website, the ICC has been seeking legal advice from Jonathon Caplin QC, a media law specialist, because the CPS has “strongly advised” the world’s cricket governing body not to publish the full judgment. The CPS noted in its statement that “particular care needs to be taken to not publish material” which may prejudice a criminal trial.

A short statement was read out by Michael Beloff on Saturday, who headed the tree-man tribunal, flanked by the other two tribunal members Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao, in which they also urged the ICC to publish the report as soon as possible. The report is keenly-awaited and is expected to explain in detail the reasons for the verdicts and shed light on the evidence gathered by the ICC’s legal team.

While 18-year-old Amir plans to appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Salman also disagreed with the verdict. However, the nature of any potential appeals, as well as the feasibility, will become clearer once the report has been made public.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.