ICC to hear “spot fixing” case in January

The International Cricket Council has formed a three-member tribunal under the leadership of Michael Beloff QC that will look into the case against three suspended Pakistani cricketers allegedly involved in “spot fixing”.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) can confirm that, during a telephone hearing earlier today, the Chair of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, Mr Michael Beloff QC, formally appointed an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal to determine the alleged breaches of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code by three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif,” the ICC said in a statement.

Apart from Beloff the three-member tribunal will be made up of Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Sharad Rao from Kenya. The hearing is scheduled to take place from 6-11 January 2011 in Doha, Qatar.

“The three-person tribunal will be made up of Mr Beloff QC (as Chair), together with two other Code of Conduct Commissioners – Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Sharad Rao from Kenya – as per the appointment procedure described in the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code. During the telephone hearing it was also agreed that the full hearing would be scheduled to take place from 6-11 January 2011 in Doha, Qatar,” the statement said.

According to AFP, the decision to shift the hearing to Doha was taken as Asif is barred from entering in United Arab Emirates after he was deported in 2008 on possession of banned drugs.

“The three players were charged under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code on 2 September 2010 and have been provisionally suspended since that date. Two players –Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir – had an appeal against that provisional suspension dismissed on 31 October 2010. All three players remain suspended from all cricketing activities,” the statement concluded.

Salman and Aamer had accused the ICC of delaying the verdict on the case last month but the ICC denied the accusation, saying they wanted an urgent solution to the case.

The scandal broke after a report by British tabloid The News of the World prompted Scotland Yard to launch an investigation into allegations of spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test against England in August.

Police raided the team’s hotel in London and questioned Salman, Aamer, Asif and bowler Wahab Riaz, but they have yet to level any charges. The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended the trio and late last month rejected appeals from Salman and Aamer while the third Asif withdrew his appeal.