Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt and an agent have been charged with corruption offences, England’s prosecution service said on Friday.
The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England last year when Britain’s News of the World tabloid claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the players had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by agent Mazhar Majeed.
“We have decided that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and their agent, Mazhar Majeed, should be charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and also conspiracy to cheat,” Simon Clements of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.
“These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl ‘no-balls’ on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan’s Fourth Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.”
Clements, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, added: “We are satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute.”
The statement said the three Pakistan players had been asked to appear in court in London on March 17.
They have been told to return “voluntarily” to Britain for the hearing or prosecutors will seek their extradition.
Britain-based Majeed must also appear on the same date at the same court, the City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court.
The Pakistan trio, who have all repeatedly denied wrongdoing, are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket.
ICC probe
A separate International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal is due to announce the conclusions from its own probe into the matter in Doha on Saturday.
Amir, reacting to the announcement, told Agence France-Presse in Doha: “I have just come to know about this.
“I will discuss this with my lawyer and then get to know about it.
“My first attention is on the ICC hearing and verdict on Saturday.”
The world governing body’s code of conduct carries a maximum lifetime ban from the game if corruption charges are proved.
A News of the World spokesperson welcomed the move by English prosecutors, saying: “Every true cricket fan will want to see justice served.
“We will continue to assist the police with their inquiries and look forward to presenting our extensive dossier of evidence in open court.”
At the time of the alleged offences, Butt (26) was captain of Pakistan’s Test side and had won plaudits for his leadership.
Asif (28) was the team’s senior pace bowler, while teenage left-arm swing bowler Amir (18) is regarded as one of the hottest properties in world cricket.
Sensitive time
The announcement that the trio will face criminal charges comes at a sensitive time for the sport, with the World Cup due to start in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in a fortnight.
Given their provisionally suspended status, Butt, Amir and Asif were all omitted from Pakistan’s 15-man World Cup squad announced last month, although officials said at the time they could be called up if cleared by the ICC.
Cricket is potentially extremely vulnerable to “spot-fixing” — betting can be planned around specific incidents without the need to manipulate the result.
The most infamous recent case of proven fixing in cricket came a decade ago when former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was revealed to have accepted money from bookmakers in a bid to influence the course of games as well as trying to corrupt his teammates.
Cronje died in a plane crash in 2002. — AFP