Pakistan spot fixing trial: ICC hearing against Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir begins

Pakistan spot fixing trial: ICC hearing against Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir begins

The ICC hearing into corruption allegations against Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir began in Doha this morning with one of the men who will decide their fate describing the case as crucial “to the future of cricket”.

In attendance: Mohammad Amir turns up for the tribunal into 'spot-fixing' in Doha Photo: AP

By Paul Kelso 8:30AM GMT 06 Jan 2011

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Sharad Rao, the Kenyan barrister who is part of the three-man independent tribunal that will hear the charges this week, made the comments as he arrived at the Qatar Financial Centre for the start of the five-day tribunal.

The case marks the first time the ICC has brought corruption charges against international players, with previous inquiries such as that into Hansie Cronje and a previous generation of Pakistani players being commissioned by national governing bodies.

All three players, who are charged with a number of breaches of the ICC anti-corruption code arising from the Lord’s Test last summer, are apparently still maintaining their innocence.

They are alleged to have conspired to bowl no-balls on the orders of alleged fixer, Butt’s agent Mazher Majeed. The alleged conspiracy was exposed in a News of the World covert sting operation, and has led to a police inquiry in the UK.

Amir, Asif and Butt all attended the hearing this morning, with former captain Butt the last to arrive just five minutes before the hearing was scheduled to begin at 9.30am local time.

Asif is being defended by Prime Minister David Cameron’s brother Alexander Cameron QC, and Butt is being defended by British barrister Yasin Patel, who accompanied him as he arrived this morning.

The players’ not-guilty pleas are understood to have been entered in the exchange of statements prior to the start of the hearing, chaired by British barrister Michael Beloff QC.

Joining Beloff on the panel is South African judge Justice Albie Sachs and Rao. Arriving at the tribunal hearing this morning Rao said: “This is a very important hearing for the future of cricket”.

While the ICC case will rely on evidence gathered by the News of the World, as well as telephone evidence gathered by the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit and information shared by the British police, it remains unclear what defence the players intend to argue.

If they are to convince the tribunal they are likely to have to provide a credible explanation for how the no-balls came to be bowled at the time Majeed allegedly told the newspaper they would be delivered.

The ICC does provide a defence of duress if players or their families have been threatened, but sources have indicated that the players have not yet forwarded that argument.

If the players are found guilty the ICC is to press for the harshest possible penalty, life bans from the sport.

Speaking before the hearing Amir said he hoped to be cleared.

“This is a question of my career and I’ve been through some tough days. I’ve overcome them and I will hopefully overcome more in the future," he said.

His lawyer Shahid Karim said he was hopeful that Amir's youth may count in his favour: “If you look at the ICC code there could be some advantage with that,” he said.

“He is very important to the future of Pakistan and the response we have gotten from people so far, I am very hopeful. You can call our case strong or whatever but I am hopeful.”

Karim also hinted that Amir may argue he was told to bowl the no-balls by Butt.

“I cannot say much about this right now but we will see in the case how we use that. There are many perspectives which we feel are our in our favour and we will use that to our advantage.”

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