Sports court rejects Butt, Asif ban appeals

Combo image made from two pictures taken on November 1, 2011 show former Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt (L) and Mohammad Asif arrive at Southwark Crown Court in central London on November 1, 2011. The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday said that it had rejected appeals against spot-fixing bans filed by Butt and Asif.

GENEVA (AFP): The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday said that it had rejected appeals against spot-fixing bans filed by disgraced former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif.

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by the Pakistani cricket players Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt against the decisions taken by the International Cricket Council Tribunal on 5 February 2011,” it said in a statement.

The two players had turned to the Swiss-based CAS in a last-ditch attempt to have their bans voided, saying they were desperate to return to the game they love.

Butt and two of his fast bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, were all banned by the ICC in 2011 after being found guilty of deliberately contriving no-balls in return for money in the Lord’s Test in England the previous year.

Butt received a 10-year ban, five years of which were suspended, and Asif was barred for seven years, with two suspended.

In their CAS case, they maintained that at the ages of 28 and 30 respectively, the suspensions were a career-ending punishment and that they should be given another opportunity to play for Pakistan.

The now-defunct British newspaper the News of the World exposed the players in a sting operation involving their agent Mazhar Majeed who struck a deal for 150,000 pounds ($230,000) with an undercover reporter.

All three men were jailed in England in November 2011 over the scandal — which was linked to illegal betting — and were released last year after completing half of their sentences.

Aamer pleaded guilty in court and decided not to appeal the five-year ban imposed by the ICC ban.

The CAS appeals of Butt and Asif were heard by a three-member panel led by lawyer Graham Mew and accompanied by Romano Subiotto and Robert Reid.