Court of Arbitration For Sport Rejected Appeals On Butt And Asif’s Ban

ICC Chief Executive Mr David Richardson has issued the following statement after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected appeals by Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif against the decisions of the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal, which had been imposed under the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code in February 2011.

“The ICC notes and welcomes the decisions of the CAS as they vindicate and confirm the processes and procedures followed by the ICC over the past couple of years in respect of this important, sensitive and high-profile matter.

“The decisions strengthen our resolve to always remain vigilant and keep the game clean at all cost, whilst continuing to educate the players about the threats and ways to combat the challenges faced by our sport.”

Mr Butt’s appeal was limited to challenging the sanction only, whilst Mr Asif challenged both liability and sanction. In both cases, the appeals were dismissed in their entirety.

The ICC will now review the detailed judgement before making any further comments.

The independent anti-corruption tribunal, chaired by Michael Beloff, QC, had found Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif guilty of charges relating to spot-fixing at the Lord’s Test match between England and Pakistan in August 2010. In addition, Salman Butt was also found guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code by failing to report an approach made to him by Mazhar Majeed to engage in corrupt activity during The Oval Test match earlier in the same month.

Salman Butt was given a 10-year ban from any involvement in cricketing activities, five years of which were suspended. Mohammad Asif was given a seven-year ban from any involvement in cricketing activities, two years of which were suspended.  Mohammad Amir chose not to appeal against the five-year ban imposed against him by the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal.