Cricket: Corruption hall of shame

A list of major cases of bans and life bans handed to cricketers.

LONDON: Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and their agent Mazhar Majeed were jailed by an English court on Thursday for their involvement in a betting scam.

In February, former Test captain Butt and pace bowlers Asif and Amir became the first players to be punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following their investigation into the spot-fixing allegations.

Before them, all the players who had been implicated in corruption cases were dealt with by their respective cricket boards.

Here AFP lists major cases of bans handed out:

Life bans:

May 2000: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik banned for life by a judicial inquiry conducted by judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum. Salim Malik was alleged to have fixed matches on Pakistan's tour of New Zealand in 1993, South Africa and Zimbabwe (1994-95).

Australian players Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim May also alleged Malik offered them bribes to underperform during Australia's tour to Pakistan in 1994.

Team-mate Rashid Latif also accused Malik of wrongdoing.

Pakistan paceman Ataur Rehman WAS banned for life for perjury during the Qayyum inquiry. His ban was overturned by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2003, a decision accepted by the ICC in 2006.

October 2000: Former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje banned for life by the United Cricket Board of South Africa after he admitted to match-fixing and having contacts with bookmakers.

December 2000: Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin banned for life after an investigation conducted by the Crime Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India. He was found to have contacts with bookmakers and manipulated match results.

December 2000: Former Indian off-spinner Ajay Sharma banned for life in the same inquiry, conducted by the CBI.

Bans:

December 2000: The same CBI inquiry found India's Ajay Jadeja had links with bookmakers. He was banned for five years, but on appeal was allowed to play in domestic cricket in India three years later.

October 2000: South African opener Herschelle Gibbs and paceman Henry Williams both banned for six months after admitting to underperforming in agreement with Cronje. Both failed to follow through on their agreement.

August 2004: Kenya's Maurice Odume banned for five years by the Kenyan Cricket Association for associating with bookmakers.

May 2008: West India all-rounder Marlon Samuels banned for two years for links with a bookmaker.

February 2011: Butt banned for 10 years for spot-fixing. Asif banned for seven years and Amir for five years.