Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir questioned by police over allegations of corruption
Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir is being questioned at a north London police station over allegations of corruption, while the ICC says that the players implicated have a disciplinary case to answer to.
Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and his bowler Mohammad Asif are both set to be questioned over alleged deliberate ‘no-balls’ in the fourth Test against England at Lords.
The trio are provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for “alleged irregular behaviour”.
ICC’s anti-corruption boss Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said the players have “an arguable case to answer”.
The players were charged with various offences by the ICC following the match which England won by an innings and 225 runs to seal a 3-1 series triumph.
“They [Butt, Asif and Amir] have a really arguable case to answer in our disciplinary arena but that is not the same as coming, in any sense, to a finding of guilt on their behalf,” added Flanagan.
“Priority must be given to the criminal investigation.”
Flanagan added that he did not see this case as a sign that cricket is rife with corruption.
“I do not see this as the tip of an iceberg, but I think it is something from which we must learn,” he has stated.
Butt, Asif and Amir have been charged under “Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel”, and in accordance with the provisions of that code, have been barred from playing until the case has been fully concluded.
The trio now have 14 days to appeal, although Flanagan conceded the complexity of the case, which he does not expect to be concluded “for weeks”, could lead to the deadline being extended for such circumstances.
The ICC has yet to speak to the players after agreeing they would wait until given permission by the Metropolitan Police.
However, the High Commissioner for Pakistan, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has condemned the game’s governing body for charging and suspending the players without an investigation.
Hasan, who has repeatedly pleaded the players’ innocence, told the BBC that the ICC’s actions showed it was “playing to the public gallery”.
“The ICC has done the wrong thing because when there is a live police inquiry this takes precedence,” he added.
“The ICC made a mistake. It gave assurances nothing would be done until Scotland Yard had completed its investigation.
Batsman Asad Shafiq and fast bowler Mohammad Irfan have been called up by Pakistan as cover for the suspended players.
Asif and Amir are alleged to have bowled three no-balls between them at pre-determined times to facilitate betting coups after a “middle-man” was reported to have accepted £150,000 from an undercover reporter from the News of the World, who published the story on Sunday.
“We will not tolerate corruption in cricket – simple as that,” said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.
