 The ICC has, for the first time since the clause for the provisional suspension was brought into its code of conduct, banned the three Pakistani cricketers accused
of match-fixing. The three include Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, all of whom were accused by a British tabloid of accepting money in
exchange of bowling no-balls in the Lord's Test match against England.
According to an ICC press release, the three players were charged with "various
offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player
Support Personnel relating to alleged irregular behavior during, and in relation
to, the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month".
The charges were brought about by the ICC when the British tabloid, News of
the World, released video tape of a sting operation performed by its journalist.
In the video, the journalist is shown handing over the money to Mazhar Majeed,
an agent for the Pakistani cricketers, and Majeed informing him that the players
will bowl no-balls at a pre-decided moment in the game. As it turned out, the
players did bowl the no-balls in the game when it was decided between Majeed
and the reporter.
According to the ICC, the three players were officially notified of the offences
they are alleged to have committed and have been provisionally suspended pending
a decision on those charges.
This means that the three will not be allowed to play any further international
cricket till the probe is completed.
The ICC also added that the players can appeal against this provisional suspension
and if they wished to, they could also appeal before an independent Anti-Corruption
Tribunal within 14 days of he announcement.
The decision was brought about by the ICC, after the team from the Anti Corruption
and Security Unit first met Veena Malik, the former girl friend of Asif,
and then met up with the Scotland Yard Police. After the meeting with Scotland
Yard Police, the decision was taken. The three players may be questioned by
Scotland Yard on Friday and PCB's legal advisor, Taffazul Rizvi, will help the
trio in the questioning.
Earlier, the PCB had said that the three players will not be a part of the
ODIs and the T20Is given the kind of mental agony they have been through in
the last few days. However, the PCB also said that they believed that the players
were innocent and they will fight for them in the court of law.
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