Three Pakistan Test cricketers accused of corruption will stand trial in Britain on October 4, a court ruled Friday. Former captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have been charged with conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments. Agent Mazher Majeed is accused of accepting £150,000 ($243,000) to arrange for the players to bowl no-balls during three dates in Pakistan’s Test series at Lord’s last August.
The trial date was fixed in a hearing on Friday by judge John Saunders at Southwark Crown Court. None of the four accused attended the hearing. Prior knowledge of when no-balls will occur could be exploited in what is known as ‘spot-betting’, hugely popular in South Asia, whereby gamblers bet on various possible incidents in a match rather than the final result. A separate and independent International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal has already banned the three players for a minimum of five years each.
All three have, however, filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Reuters adds: Prosecutors bringing charges against three Pakistani cricketers and a sports agent accused of taking bribes are seeking to obtain transcripts from an International Cricket Council tribunal, a court heard on Friday. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is keen to look at documentation from the ICC hearing held in Doha earlier this year, where Butt, Asif and Amir were banned from the sport for a minimum of five years.
