Pakistani cricketers sentenced to jail in match-fixing case

[News_Editor]

Pakistani cricketers sentenced to jail in match-fixing case

2011-11-04 09:12:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Three suspended Pakistani cricketers and their agent were sentenced to jail by a crown court judge in London on Thursday for fixing part of a test match against England last year, prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, Former Pakistani captain Salman Butt and opening bowler Mohammad Asif were both convicted at London's Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to cheat after they plotted to deliberately bowl no-balls during a Lord's Test match against England. They were also convicted of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.

Butt and Asif were charged after allegations about their involvement in spot-fixing appeared in the now defunct News of the World tabloid, owned by Rupert Murdoch, shortly after the Lord's Test. The paper recorded Butt's agent, Mazhar Majeed, saying he could arrange fixing schemes with Pakistani players.

The youngest player on the team, Mohammad Amir, had already admitted to the same charges at an earlier hearing in early September. The three players were responsible for bowling three no balls during the Fourth Test match at Lords in August 2010.

Butt and Asif were jailed for 2.5 years and 1 year respectively, while Amir was jailed for only six months.

Justice Jeremy Cooke said Butt received a harsher sentence than the other two players because he was "responsible for corrupting Amir." "These offenses, regardless of pleas, are so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment will suffice," Judge Jeremy Cooke told the four at London's Southwark Crown Court.

The judge in the case accepted Majeed was involved in the scam and sentenced him to 2 years and 8 months. The court heard he used his influence as agent to some of the players to set up the deceit in return for payment of £150,000 ($239,865) from an undercover journalist posing as a businessman with connections to gambling syndicates.

"This is a case of cheating; pure and simple. The defendants, who are world class cricketers, sought to cheat to enhance their substantial legitimate earnings," Detective Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne said on Tuesday.

Horne recognized it is unusual for the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and ultimately the courts to get involved in sporting issues to this degree. "But this case demonstrates our collective determination to do so in serious cases where the conduct is clearly criminal."

He added: "It is unlikely such activity would have been exposed without the good work of investigative journalism; and as an investigator I acknowledge the skill involved in such work."

Sally Walsh, Senior Lawyer in the Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Division of CPS, welcomed the convictions of the three men. "Through their actions they brought shame on the cricketing world, jeopardizing the faith and admiration of cricket fans the world over," she said. "This prosecution shows that match fixing is not just unsportsmanlike but is a serious criminal act."

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