LAHORE – Pakistan’s disgraced cricketers, Salman Butt and Mohammed Amir returned home on Sunday after being banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal on corruption charges but faced no harsh reactions from the people at the airport.
The two players came out quietly from the terminal building and slipped away in their waiting cars but not before insisting they were innocent of the spot-fixing charges brought against them. Talking to reporters inside the terminal building, the two banned players said they were shocked and still at a loss over the bans imposed on them.
“The punishments handed out were harsh. We are innocent and we intend to use every avenue to get the bans overturned,” former Test captain Butt said. “We were not expecting such a verdict from the ICC tribunal and I have said all along we didn’t get a fair treatment or hearing at the hearings,” he added.
“I had gone to Doha with some hopes but was not expecting I would be banned for ten years it is unacceptable and shocking for me,” he added. Butt, who was given a longer ban because of his central role in the no-ball scandal during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s last year said he would wait for the ICC to release the detailed judgement of the tribunal.
“We are supposed to get the detailed judgement in two days time and we want to see the evidence on the basis of which they have banned and then we will go into the appeal,” he stated. The ICC tribunal banned pacer Mohammed Asif for seven years and Amir for five years.
Amir said he was still in a state of shock over the tribunal verdict. “I was not expecting this verdict at all and I say again I didn’t do any corruption,” he claimed. Amir also complained about not getting fair treatment at the hearing on Saturday in Doha by the tribunal.
“We are waiting for the ICC to release the detailed judgement of the tribunal after which we will decide what to do but we have made up our minds to appeal the ban in the first instance,” he added. He confirmed he had pleaded not guilty at the tribunal hearing.
