Asif withdraws appeal
(UKPA) – 2 hours ago
Mohammad Asif, one of the three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of an International Cricket Council spot-fixing investigation, has withdrawn an appeal against his provisional suspension.
Seam bowler Asif was provisionally suspended by the game's governing body alongside Test captain Salman Butt and new ball partner Mohammad Amir after the ICC initiated an investigation into newspaper allegations that the trio had acted in association with illegal bookmakers during their summer tour of England.
All three took up the option of appealing their bans and their cases were due to be heard in Doha on October 30-31. Butt and Amir have not followed Asif's lead and their hearings will now continue as planned.
It is almost two months since the spectre of corruption revisited Pakistan cricket, with News of the World reports claiming that Amir and Asif had bowled no-balls on request during the fourth Test at the Brit Oval, with Butt orchestrating events as skipper.
A Scotland Yard investigation followed and all three players had their mobile phones confiscated by police investigators.
Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan announced following a meeting with the trio on September 2 that they proclaimed their innocence, but following the Pakistan Cricket Board's refusal to impose their own sanctions the ICC swiftly moved to impose their own provisional sentence.
Neither the provisional suspension, nor the subsequent written appeals, put an end to the story with fresh spot-fixing allegations dogging the one-day series between England and Pakistan.
The ICC reacted briskly to claims of wrongdoing in the third ODI but later concluded that nothing untoward had taken place, while under-fire PCB chairman Ijaz Butt was forced into renouncing groundless suggestions that England's players were involved with bookmakers under threat of legal action.
Asif is banned from entering the United Arab Emirates after an incident in 2008 when he was caught in possession of a suspected illegal substance at Dubai International Airport and that may have played some part in the decision to hold the players' hearing in Qatar.
With Asif no longer involved the panel, chaired by the head of the ICC's Code of Conduct Commission Michael Beloff QC, may choose to base themselves closer to the organisation's Dubai headquarters.
The Press Association: Asif withdraws appeal
Asif withdraws appeal
Linear Mode
