Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has presented his case to have his ICC ban for spot-fixing overturned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Asif appeared before CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday to try and have his seven-year ban, with two years suspended, quashed but will have to wait at least three weeks for an outcome and it could take as many as six. “Today was quite busy,” Asif said after emerging from the CAS headquarters. “They will give us their decision in the next three weeks. Hopefully I am going to win this case. I’d like to play cricket again.”
Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, will have his hearing on Friday in an attempt to overturn his 10-year ban following the News of the World sting in August 2010 which exposed plans to bowl on-demand no-balls.
On Wednesday Butt said in a statement that he wanted the chance to resume his career. “Cricket is my life and every single day that has passed has been so painful because I have not been able to play. All I want is an opportunity to get back into cricket whilst I am still young and I can still play well.” Mohammad Amir, the third player to be caught in the News of the World sting, decided not to appeal against the five-year ban against him. The ban does not permit the players to take part in any official match – international, domestic or club – until at least September 2015. All three players served time. Butt served seven months of a 30-month prison sentence, Asif was released from Canterbury Prison in Kent on June 3 last year after he served half of a year-long sentence while Amir spent three months in a young offenders’ institution after admitting his charge at a pre-trial hearing.
