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Spot-fixing: Tainted Pak trio plead not guilty to ICC | In a bid to contest disciplinary action, the three Pakistani cricketers suspended and charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) under its anti-corruption code over spot-fixing allegations, have entered a plea of not guilty, demanding the provisional suspensions to be lifted. The tainted trio- Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer-
implicated
in the match-fixing scandal in last month’s final Test against England, have indicated
their intention to defend themselves in respect of the disciplinary action brought
against them in their written submissions to the ICC, the Daily Times reports.
“The players have also expressed concern that the ICC’s investigation could
prejudice
the police investigation, and have requested additional time to respond fully
to the charges. The ICC has granted additional time. The players remain willing
to cooperate in full with the ICC. No further comment will be made at this time,”
said a statement released by Elizabeth Robertson, the cricketers’ London-based
lawyer. The trio responded to cricket’s governing body by replying to the charges
through their lawyer two days before the deadline was set to expire, the Pakistan
Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman said. However, ICC officials declined to comment
on receiving the replies from the suspended players. “The ICC will not rush into
any sort of decision. It might take a lot of time and nobody really knows how
much before anything is decided,” said a source close to the investigation. It
is noteworthy that the players had a meeting with the PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt,
yesterday but the details of the meeting were not revealed, as police and the
PCB have barred the players from speaking to the media. While media reports
suggest
two other players Kamran Akmal and Salman were also notified by the ICC in a
separate
case of match-fixing, the Pakistan government has decided to conduct its own inquiry
after receiving a report from Scotland Yard. The cricketers were left out of the
squad for the two Twenty20 internationals at Cardiff and for the forthcoming
five-match
one-day series, prior to the ICC provisionally suspending them while their own
investigation into the claims is ongoing. British police, after interrogating
them, levelled no charges and allowed the trio to return home, on an undertaking
that they would return to Britain when required. The players will now go through
an ICC hearing over the unspecified charges contained in the governing body’s
code of conduct.
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