Butt, Asif’s sanctions to be lifted on Sept 1: ICC

Disgraced duo allowed to feature in domestic and international cricket

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday that the sanctions against banned Pakistan cricketers, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, will expire on September 1, rendering them eligible to return to competitive cricket, at both domestic and international levels.

Both Asif and Butt, along with Mohammad Amir, who was given permission to feature in domestic cricket earlier this year, were found guilty of spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan in August 2010 by the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal on February 5, with their sanctions backdated to commence on September 2, 2010 — the date on which they were initially charged and provisionally suspended.

The tribunal, headed by Queen’s Counsel Barrister Michael Beloff, following a six-day hearing in Qatar, had imposed a sanction of five years on Amir, seven years on Asif (of which the final two years were suspended on specified conditions) and 10 years on Butt (of which the final five years were suspended on specified conditions).

The specified conditions incorporated good behaviour, which included helping the community fight against corruption in cricket and assisting the ICC in uncovering match-fixing in the sport.

As with all players and other participants in cricket, all three players remain bound to comply with the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and the anti-corruption rules of all National Cricket Federations.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2015.

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