6 Feb 2011

Pakistani cricketers get lenghty bans

5:48 am on 6 February 2011

The International Cricket Council's anti-corruption tribunal has handed down lengthy suspensions to the three Pakistan players implicated in the spot-fixing scandal which rocked international cricket last year.

The tribunal banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for ten years, 5 of them suspended, Mohammad Asif for seven years, 2 of them suspended and Mohammad Aamer for five years for their role in a spot-fixing betting scam.

The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord's last Ausgust, when Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.

The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.

In a separate development yesterday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as their agent with corruption offences and summoned them in court on March 17th.

The Pakistan trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and had shown confidence of resuming their careers.

The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland.