Rumoured: Butt faces seven-year ban in spot-fixing case: Sources - TOI

[Rajiv]

KARACHI: Pakistan's suspended Test captain Salman Butt is facing a seven-year ban while his teammates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer could escape with two-year bans after next month's hearing of the ICC anti-corruption tribunal in Doha. A well-placed source said Butt was likely to be banned and slapped with a heavy financial penalty. "The way things are going for him the frequent change of lawyers and his abrasive relationship with the ICC, he does not appear to be in a position to plead his case effectively against the allegations against him," the source said. "And apparently the ICC ACU have prepared a long list of evidences against him based on the fact that he was captain and responsible for the conduct of the team," the source said. The source said the fact that Butt was captain would entail the longest ban on him. "As far as Asif and Aamer are concerned, they are likely to escape with shorter bans of around two years each for their role in the spot-fixing allegations," the source said. "These two pace bowlers are in a position to plead that they were ordered by their captain to do what they did and apparently they are being more cooperative and have a better relationship with the ICC ACU," the source said. The source said the ICC had been given plenty of evidence and extended video footage of interviews with Pakistani bookmaker Mazhar Majeed by the 'News of the World' tabloid which first broke the story that implicated the three players in the spot-fixing allegations. The three were provisionally suspended by the ICC in early September after it emerged that Mazhar Majeed had bribed them to deliberately bowl no-balls during the fourth Test against England at Lord's. Butt's position, the source said, appeared to be the weakest and could be one of the reasons for at least three prominent Pakistani lawyers, after agreeing to represent him, quietly disengaging themselves from representing him in the case. "Right now Butt only has Yasin Patel a lawyer of Indian origin in London representing him and representing the best chance of getting the minimum punishment for him." The source said as things stood, the best the suspended captain could hope was for his lawyer to convince the ICC tribunal to impose minimum punishment on him. "It would be better than being banned for life like former captain Salim Malik was in 2000 by the Justice Qayyum tribunal which has meant that Malik has been forced to totally break all his links with cricket," he said. To complicate matters, Scotland Yard has also been building up a case against the suspended trio while investigating the allegations made by the 'News of the World'. Read more: Butt faces seven-year ban in spot-fixing case: Sources - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Butt-faces-seven-year-ban-in-spot-fixing-case-Sources/articleshow/7154950.cms#ixzz1908lG1mH http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Butt-faces-seven-year-ban-in-spot-fixing-case-Sources/articleshow/7154950.cms

[Zap_Brannigan]

7 years for Butt and just 2 years for the other 2, if this ought to believed. I thought ICC got tougher with fixing since the one in 99 when a lot of the players were banned from cricket. Doesn't seem like it.

[Jersey #10]

I don't trust TOI

[Nova]

Well if this happens then a 7 year ban for Butt means his cricketing career is practically over. Asif should be handed a much severe ban considering his previous behavior. Two years is reasonable for Aamir considering that he will be cooperating with the ICC. I wonder what Scotland Yard is going to come up with. I thought there was no criminal charge. :hmmm: Well placed sources :hehe:

[saneindian]

2 years for Asif and Amir? No way. Samuels got 2 years for just talking to the bookies and based on tapped phones. These guys have taken money and god knows what else was going on. Life ban for Butt and Asif and 5 years for Amir is going to be the verdict IMO.

[Shakthi]

2 years for Asif and Amir? No way. Samuels got 2 years for just talking to the bookies and based on tapped phones. These guys have taken money and god knows what else was going on. Life ban for Butt and Asif and 5 years for Amir is going to be the verdict IMO.

Ban them for life and tell me how many times does Asif gets away with Cheating.

[Cricket_Guru]

They deserve nothing but a life Ban..... I would hate to see any of these three in pakistan colours again, so will alot of other people!:((

[jf1gp_1]

I don't trust TOI

this is a first . what wrong with TOI ?

[straight.drive]

The guilty should be punished. But life ban on Aamer would be too over board. The kid would have been coerced by Butt and Co to comply and fix the match.

[don_corleone840]

The guilty should be punished. But life ban on Aamer would be too over board. The kid would have been coerced by Butt and Co to comply and fix the match.

he is not kid.he was 18+ whe he did fixing. :finger::finger: he will be life banned

[ShahidAfridi]

Great news. Asif will appeal and that ban will be cut in half. Asif will be back when he is around 29/30 and it won't be a problem, he doesn't rely on pace or any physical attribrutes. Amir will be back when he is around 20/21 and he will have a long and great career. Maybe Amir+Asif can appeal directly to PCB so they get off straight away but if this news is true then it is a great future for Pakistan Cricket

[straight.drive]

^^^Do you recommend him the same punishment, even if he was coerced to fix the match?

[ShahidAfridi]

^^^Do you recommend him the same punishment' date=' even if he was coerced to fix the match?[/quote'] Amir doesn't deserve a life ban, he is only 18 and this is a first offence commited. Why should he be made a "example off" ? Other players in previous years have been caught but ICC have not acted because they are from the big nations- Michael Holding admitted it on live tv. Shane Warne and more recently Suresh Raina.

[DomainK]

Great news. Asif will appeal and that ban will be cut in half. Asif will be back when he is around 29/30 and it won't be a problem, he doesn't rely on pace or any physical attribrutes. Amir will be back when he is around 20/21 and he will have a long and great career. Maybe Amir+Asif can appeal directly to PCB so they get off straight away but if this news is true then it is a great future for Pakistan Cricket

Ever thought that players of such low ethics should actually never come back?

[ShahidAfridi]

Pakistan players do it because they are not paid well compared to other countries.

[Sachin=GOD]

Pakistan players do it because they are not paid well compared to other countries.

cricketers from Sri Lanka and West Indies are also not well paid. And there are other ways of earning money - like honestly performing well which may result in central contracts from the cricket board, advertisements, contracts from county cricket in Eng or Aus or other countries.

[Sir john]

amir need a break from cricket

[Nova]

Ever thought that players of such low ethics should actually never come back?

Agree on the ethics part but do you still think a second chance should be given to Aamer as far as penalty is concerned? There are mitigating factors like he could have been influenced by the captain. If that's the case then in my opinion a life ban is harsh on him and 2-5 years is reasonable. He will always bear the stigma if he comes back no doubt. A lot of discussion on this topic is buried in this thread and I will quote what you said earlier in that thread:

Age and circumstances have always played a vital role in determining punishment for any convict. Even a murder convict can get sympathy because of age and circumstances. Aamer will get advantage on both counts. He is just 18 and if his captain turns out to be a fixer, he will laso get advantage of circumstances. http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=1159630&postcount=114

Keeping the moral dilemma aside, if Aamer is given a few years ban then it means ICC would like to give him a second chance and professionally he is entitled to play again. My prediction is that the cricketing body will allow some room for rehabilitation.

[Shakthi]

Amir doesn't deserve a life ban, he is only 18 and this is a first offence commited. Why should he be made a "example off" ? Other players in previous years have been caught but ICC have not acted because they are from the big nations- Michael Holding admitted it on live tv. Shane Warne and more recently Suresh Raina.

Amir doesnt deserve life ban so that he can fix matches again in the future yea right suresh raina was caught with ad agent who hasnt got anything to do with bookies but pak players were caught with money and bowling big no balls its all conspiracy of icc to bring pak cricket down how can players from land of pure can cheat sab saazish hain.

[Shakthi]

Pakistan players do it because they are not paid well compared to other countries.

Excuse 1. Pak cricketers not paid well Excuse 2. Pak cricketers not playing in IPL Excuse 3. Its conspiracy of Indians to bring Pak cricket down.