Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes that after the confession the judge came down harsh on young Muhammad Aamer, and feared that it would not help the real cause of eradicating the menace of corruption in cricket. The painstaking trial against Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer is over and the trio is now serving their respective sentences awarded to them by the London Court.
“I am not advocating Aamer, but he should have been appreciated rather punished after the confession, and now I am afraid, no-one would come forward and plead guilty in the future,” said Rashid Latif said in a television interview. “It will put a lid on this practice but only for the time being. To achieve the goal, Aamer should have been persuaded to reveal the hidden hands that control this crime,” added Latif.
“Recently FIFA offered rewards to match-fixing whistleblowers, so why can’t it be done in cricket? after all the ultimate purpose is to root-out the menace,” asked Latif who himself is considered as the very first man to have come out loud against match-fixing.
Latif also felt that this verdict had brought the trio in the focus and in the process the players doing it without getting caught were overlooked. “The entire attention is on these three players and the rest were actually given the clean chit by the Anti Corruption and the Security Unit (ACSU). Now the players linked to this mafia will only target the countries where laws are not similar to those in England,” believed Latif.
Commenting on the recurrence of such incidents Rashid Latif reiterated that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) have not been successful in this regard. Latif was off the view that with the amount of cricket being played, it not possible for the apex body to keep an eye on every match. “Live telecast is somewhat a problem, and I am convinced that only a 30-sec delay in the telecast would kill the spot-fixing. Secondly, the betting in a match starts from the coin toss and I don’t think it’s a rocket science to show the coin on television,” questioned Latif who has earlier criticised the composition of the ACSU for not having ex-cricketers in it. The delay in a telecast is not possible under the existing agreement between cricket boards and broadcasters (TV, radio etc) which emphasises on an immediate telecast, therefore this bilateral accord needs to be revisited,” added Latif “In a country where more than one channels broadcast a match the dissimilarity in signals of each broadcaster is evident, and in this situation all the bets are placed on the channel which shows the footage without delay” “It is the best short-term solution available to curb the spot-fixing, the authorities should at least give it a try,” concludes Latif.
Regardless of whether the sentences were harsh or lenient, they were not fair in their entirety. To explain what I mean: Pleading guilty, having a ban imposed on you by the ICC, not being a master mind and finally being young and impressionable were plus points in the eyes of the Judge and these plus points helped in the reduction of the various sentences handed out by the Judge. Salman Butt had the ICC ban as a plus, reduction of sentence by 68.75%. Asif had the ICC ban and not being a master mind as a plus, reduction of sentence by 87%. Mazhar Majeed had the guilty plea on his side, reduction of sentence by 67%. Amir, however, had all four on his; the guilty plea, the ban, not being a master mind, being young and impressionable and yet his sentenced only got reduced by 67%. Same as Mazhar Majeed's. He should have gotten time served.
Rashid Latif, as always you have hit the nail on the head. I nominate you, in all sincerity, for PCB Chairman.
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