Trio to stand trial in October

Amir, Asif and Salman to face corruption charges.

LONDON:


Three Pakistan Test cricketers accused of corruption will stand trial in Britain on October 4, a court ruled yesterday.


Former Test captain Salman Butt and fast-bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been charged with conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments. Agent Mazher Majeed is accused of accepting £150,000 to arrange for the players to bowl no-balls during  Pakistan’s Test series at Lord’s last August.


The trial date was fixed in a hearing on Friday by judge John Saunders at Southwark Crown Court. None of the four accused attended the hearing.

Prior knowledge of when no-balls will occur could be exploited in ‘spot-betting’, whereby gamblers bet on possible incidents in a match rather than the final result.

A separate International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal has already banned the three players for a minimum of five years each. All three have, however, filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2011.
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