The International Cricket Council on Friday defended its decision to charge the three Pakistan cricketers accused of being at the centre of an alleged betting scam.
The three men were today formally interviewed by police under caution for the first time. Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Test captain Salman Butt were interviewed separately throughout the day at Kilburn police station in north London.
While police decide whether there is enough evidence to charge the players with conspiracy to commit fraud, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) is conducting its own parallel investigation. ICC investigators will not question the three players until they receive permission from the police and are finalising an “information sharing protocol” in order to be able to pool evidence where appropriate.
The police seized money and cellphones from the players last Sunday and are investigating any possible link between bank notes found in their possession and the money handed to a middle-man as part of the News of the World sting.
But one difficulty Scotland Yard would face in attempting to prosecute the players is proving any money they received from Mazhar Majeed was taken in return for deliberately bowling no-balls.
The Pakistani players have told friends they are prepared to tell detectives they did receive payments from Majeed, but this was entirely proper because he was their agent.
Majeed, arrested last weekend by police over the News of the World allegations, and by Customs over money-laundering allegations, is the agent for all three players and responsible for organising their sponsorship deals.
The players could claim that they believed any money he paid them was from sponsorship deals secured in his role as their agent.
At least one of the players did not have a UK bank account and Majeed has represented members of Pakistan’s test side in this role for several years.
On Friday night, the ICC moved to provisionally suspend the trio after charging them with “various offences” under the governing body’s code of conduct.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the recently appointed chairperson of ACSU, and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat insisted the offences were not “the tip of the iceberg”.
But Lorgat conceded that the sport faced its worst crisis since the Hansie Cronje match-fixing affair a decade ago.
Pakistan high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan this morning accused the ICC of “playing to the public gallery” by suspending the three cricketers.
“They have done the wrong thing. When there’s a live police inquiry, this takes precedence over both the ICC, civil or regulatory investigations and any disciplinary investigations,” Hasan told the BBC.
“To take action now is unhelpful, premature and unnecessary considering the players had already voluntarily withdrawn from playing. The ICC had no business to take this action.”
He said the ICC had “no authority” to intervene and has previously claimed the players were “set up” by the News of the World, which is expected to publish further revelations on Sunday. On the same day, England will face Pakistan in the first of two Twenty20 matches in Cardiff.
Lorgat insisted that the proper processes had been followed and denied Hasan’s conspiracy
This particular incident with the three players is unrelated to the challenge that we’ve got in keeping Pakistan involved as a full member of the International Cricket Council,” he said. The country has been unable to play at home since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore last year.
“So I wouldn’t want to link the two, and claims.” I certainly wouldn’t subscribe to the view that there is some sort of conspiracy around Pakistan cricket.” – guardian.co.uk